Dear Blackrock,
On behalf of the Blackrock Tourism & Development Group , we wanted to express our delight and gratitude to our sponsors, local businesses whom hosted the events , The Clermount, The Neptune and Danny Hughes , to Blackrock Tidy Towns volunteers, to every visitor and to the community at large for coming , participating and supporting our very first Blackrock Film Festival.
4 movies on 4 Nights in 4 different venues, one movie had to be shown twice due to popular demand, all movies came with some extra special entertainment including Daniel Fagan playing the entire score of Charlie Chaplin’s classic “The Kid” live on piano in the authentically decorated room in Danny Hughes / Beat It Music Shop, and for “Some Like it Hot” in the Clermount , the Castlebellingham Ukelle Orchestra played 1920’s tunes with vocals from Helena Mullins dressed as our Marilyn look a like and Damien McShane as Daphne ,aka Jack Lemmon on the Bow Fiddle . The Neptune turned their outdoor beer garden into a Cinema serving popcorn and cocktails , to the music of The Commitments, while our Beach lent itself to the most fantastic cinematography backdrop for ” Pirates of The Caribbean ” with the committee members along with their small team of stewards working diligently to transform the beach into a real life Pirate port . Dundalk Mens Shed made the giant mast on the beach which was lit up and looking magical for the event .The whole festival literally had a red carpet feel with paparazzi photographers David Norton and Jason McGee to hand taking photos of everyone against the fab backdrop on the Red Carpet at each event sponsored by Centra, Blackrock and Louth County Council .
The event was a huge success in terms of hitting the right note for the type of events and festivals suitable to Blackrock Village, it attracted a huge number of visitors as well as appealing to the local community . The social media (28,000 interactions) and press coverage it received presented Blackrock in a very positive light and as a beautiful destination Village appealing to the cultured visitor.
Our next events are The Pumpkin Carnival which will be on Monday 30th October and then the Blackrock Village Christmas Market on Saturday 2nd December , so pencil them in , come out , enjoy and support your Village.
In the meantime , look out for the very soon to be in circulation The Blackrock Village Tourist Guide & Walking Map with the most beautiful artwork by renowned artist and illustrator Davey Cousley, depicting the special attractions and points of interest the village has to offer . In addition, to this keep looking out for The villages new Brand & Logo , applied to flags , posters , backdrops , village artwork, the visitBlackrock website , the Tourist Guide and walking map and at all village events organised by Blackrock Tourist & Development Group. This branding and logo was commissioned by this group for the village and has been very well considered and designed with the professional services of Grandson Designs , whom have very generously given their skills , services and relentless energy to this project and its ongoing implementation , for which we are so grateful of , they are great guys.
The Blackrock Tourism & Development Group are Aine Corcoran, Chairperson; Elaine Cosgrave, Secretary; Jason McGee , Events Manager and Conor Hughes , Treasurer.
On behalf of the Committee, thank you & kind regards ,
Aine Corcoran
