Line-up announced for Ireland’s first festival with advanced Covid safety measures

It will represent a significant landmark in the reopening of the live events sector.

Music lovers will definitely tell you how much they missed going to festivals throughout 2020, but thankfully there is already hope going into next year, with the announcement of the Wild Roots festival. The impressive line-up includes Irish acts such as Soda Blonde, Daithí, Damien Dempsey, and King Kong Company, as well as international artists James Morrison, Booka Shade and the Kaiser Chiefs. There will also be performances from Ryan McMullan, Violet Skies, David Keenan, Paddy Casey, ROE, Prymary Colours, Modernlove, and the much-loved Aslan. The comedy stage will see performances from Blindboy, David McSavage and Owen Colgan, and the "after-dark entertainment" includes DJ sets from Jenny Greene, Mark Blair and the Daft Punk Tribute.

Commenting on the new festival, Wild Roots Director Neil O’Connell remarked:

“We have reimagined the festival experience, lovers of the outdoors can take a swim, have a paddleboard lesson, or hoist a sail on the majestic freshwater lake made famous by W.B Yeats. Spend an afternoon rambling through the rugged wilds of the forest where you’re likely to meet circus folk, discover hidden art installations or catch an aerial acrobat show”.

While there had previously been some indications that concert goers may need to give proof that they have had the vaccine, the festival organisers announced as part of the launch that they plan to implement advanced Covid-19 health and safety systems which they believe will set the standard for the live events industry, described as follows: "As part of the new procedures there will be socially distanced zoned area camping; designated disinfectants points; health checkpoints for body temperature measuring and onsite isolation facilities with qualified medical personnel. Meanwhile, all attendees will be allocated an 'RFID wristband' which will eliminate the need for queuing and allow for cashless payments at drink and confectionery stands."

Wild Roots Festival is set take place over the 2021 May Bank Holiday, at Lough Gill in Sligo, from Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 2nd. Full details and tickets can be found here.

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