Festival

The Virginia Pumpkin Festival is an annual event held in the town of Virginia, Co Cavan in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. The festival takes place every bank holiday

Bank Holiday

A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...

 weekend at Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 at the end of October. This year it will celebrate its fourth year with a greater audience expected to attend – such as a headlining performance from Irish Rockabilly singer Imelda May

Imelda May

Imelda Mary Higham, Clabby , known as Imelda May, is an Irish vocalist and musician. She began her career in music at 15 and released her debut album in 2005. She also plays the bodhrán and guitar...

.

History

The festival began in 2007 with crowds of up to ten thousand. On the Friday night the whole town was suddenly pitch black, before being completely lit up by candle light from pumpkin lanterns which were placed throughout the town. The events continued on Saturday with a variety of activities for all ages which included pumpkin olympics, arts and crafts exhibitions and music from local band "RHETOFIRE". Then followed the Pumpkin King and Queen competition when perfectly dressed Ladies and Gentlemen representing the public houses in the town were interviewed, Avril Soden and Martin Tynan were crowned as king and queen. On the Sunday afternoon the main event of the festival took place, pumpkin weigh in followed by a parade. The winner of the first ever Virginia Pumpkin Competition was Ed Molloy from Co. Longford.

The Festival

The Whirlygig Fire parade and was followed by a firework display.
Throughout the years the event has grown and grown just like the size of the pumpkins which enter the main competition of the weekend, Virginia town has welcomed growers from Ireland, Britain and Italy to attempt to win a cash prize the pumpkins are judged on their, size and shape and colour. They also included a live weigh-in of Ireland's heaviest pumpkins. The events which took place last year (2007) happened again but to make it distinctive, the organisers produced other attraction for the weekend in 2008. Some of these were a fancy dress Halloween party, kids treasure hunt, and even cookery demonstrations. They also added such events as the teddy bear picnic and with live performances from a wide range of acts, such as the music like Shane MacGowan

Shane MacGowan

Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...

, Sharon Shannon

Sharon Shannon

Sharon Shannon is an Irish musician. She is best known for her work with the accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and melodeon. Her 1991 album Sharon Shannon is the best selling album of traditional Irish music ever released there...

 and Mundy

Mundy

Mundy is an Irish singer-songwriter. 'Mundy' is a nickname given to Enright, as it not only refers to his name Edmund, but it is how he pronounces the word "Monday".-Biography:...

 entertained crowds in the Pumpkin Marquee. There was also a street performance from the Whirligig theatre group who travelled from Co Donegal. In 2009 Bell X1

Bell X1

Bell X1 are an Irish rock band from County Kildare in Ireland. They have released five albums which received much acclaim in Ireland.. They have represented Ireland in the Eurosonic Festival in Groningen, received several major award nominations and headlined several festivals in their own country...

performed over the weekend and there was also music from Country music singers Declan Nerney and Philomena Begley at the Farmers' Dance in the Pumpkin Marquee as well.

External links

Cole P., Hurley J., Great Pumpkins: Tricks and Treats for Halloween, 2003, Chronicle Books.

• http://www.pumpkinfestival.com/
• http://virginia.ie/index.php?page=about-the-festival