Archive - Thousands to pour into the city for Kilkenny Beer Festival (1973)

As the Kilkenny Beer Festival goes into full swing this weekend, thousands are expected to pour into the city for a fully packed programme of events ranging from a huge brass band parade to experimental theatre.

But the biggest impact this weekend will be in the sphere of sport beginning Thursday afternoon with the first of Gowran Park’s two meetings and followed closely by the Festival’s biggest ever hurling attraction, an Oireachtas semi-final between Cork and Wexford at Nowlan Park.

First Dates Ireland seeking participants, and background diners, from Kilkenny!

Other sporting attractions include four days of golf, three nights of greyhound racing, four days of juvenile soccer and pitch and putt, hurling, football, motorcycle scramble and basketball.

Of course the other events are numerous and varied and there will undoubtedly be something for everyone.

Opening the Festival on Sunday night Mayor Kieran Crotty extended a welcome to all who would be visiting Kilkenny during the week, particularly the exiles and especially the Kilkenny people returning home.

He said it was people who made a festival and if those coming to Kilkenny entered into the spirit of the event, it could be the most successful yet.

He paid a special tribute to the Festival Committee for all their voluntary work over the years and said it pleased him very much that the festival was going from strength to strength.

Concluding, he appealed to the people of the city to give every co-operation to the security forces.

The St Patrick’s Brass and Reed Band will have to decide over the weekend whether they will be able to accept an invitation to attend one of the biggest charity games yet promoted, the meeting of Ireland and Brazil in the soccer international at Lansdowne Road.

The gate receipts will go to the Conquer Cancer Campaign. The problem facing the band is securing a half day’s leave of absence from work for a big number of their members.

As the game starts at 7.30pm, the band would need to leave at 3pm.

The invitation to the band came from Louis Kilcoyne, managing director of Shamrock Rovers.

Mr Kilcoyne is very enthusiastic about the appearance of the band, which he has seen on television.

The game will be covered by world television, which would be a tremendous break for the band and would thrill Kilkenny people in many parts of the world.