Returning for its third year All Together Now is back with a bang and a new traffic management plan! We take you through some of the burning questions being asked about the festival, everything from what to pack to our top food picks.
For a small country, we are nicely stocked for festivals, from the small ones tucked away in rural boltholes to the larger ones that pull in the masses. This level of coverage makes sense when you consider how much Irish people love nothing better than packing the bag up with gear (that's never been out of a festival grounds or the attic), hitting the road only to suspend reality for a couple of days. There are a couple of truly special festivals in Ireland, and All Together Now is definitely one of them.
Big enough to not run into your neighbour from down the road, but small enough to not get lost. Set on the grounds of Curraghmore Estate, the type of country pile of Euromillions dreams (all 3,000 acres of it). There's forests to get lost in, lakes to gaze hungover-ly at, rolling hills to roll down and gardens to feel just a bit civilised in. Attendees are always up for the craic, always bedecked, bejewelled and bespoke. The lineups, stacked with local talent and sprinkled with international acts that have a twinge of nostalgia to them. Days at ATN feel like a return to the relaxed playfulness of childhood while the night are reminiscent of the summer nights of old.
There's a lot to cover so buckle up and enjoy everything you need to know about All Together Now 2022:
What is it?
First and foremost ATN is a music festival, but it's a whole lot more, pulling together visual art, comedy, sustainability, food, spoken word and everything in between.
Where is it?
Curraghmore Estate, Portlaw, co. Waterford
When is it on?
July 29 - 31 (the August Bank holiday to you and me)
Who is on?
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Underworld, Groove Armada, Jungle and Floating Points would be considered to be the headliners. There's some unbelievable Irish talent playing, between Gilla Band, CMAT, Pillow Queens, SHIV, NewDad, Gemma Dunleavy, Kean Kavanagh, Soda Blonde, Junior Brother to name just a few. Alongside some thumping DJs like George Fitzgerald, Romy (The XX), New Jackson (David Kitt) and DJ Koze.
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What's are the different areas about?
With 18 stages, there's definitely a lot of music going on, but ATN has a hellovalot more than just music on offer:
- Arcadia comes into its own after dark, the dance arena has a 360 degree sounds system alongside a flame breathing dragon and an intergalactic bug stage. Built from a 6 wheeled 1950s amphibious military vehicle, Arcadia is one of the jewels in the European festival circuit.
- Newly launched Jameson Connects: The Circle is a fully immersive area stacked with incredible Irish artists and an unmissable series of interactive workshops for festival goers. Enjoy the likes of Kean Kavanagh, Loah, John Francis Flynn (and loads more) while grabbing a cocktail and some BBQ grub, or try your hand at a bodhrán masterclass, a Spoken Word Circle or a print making workshop.
- The Breathe and Wellness area features dozens of spa, therapeutic and workshop experiences, enjoy everything from Indian head massage, children's yoga to tarot reading.
- All Curious Minds is an area with a focus on language, playing host to 50 diverse speakers and artists featuring spoken word poetry, rap, collaborations with musicians, readings and panels with authors of fiction and non-fiction, journalists, theatre makers and podcasters.
- The Comedy area does what it says on the tin, sticks a group of funny people into a tent to make people laugh. There's a great line-up of Irish talent from David O'Doherty, Deirdre O'Kane, Ardal O Hanlon to Anna Clifford, and loads more.
- AVA in the woods between Belfast & London, AVA is one of the best audio visual festivals around, expect superb visuals and heavy vibrations.
- Global Roots showcases the cultural diversity of the Irish music scene, with a stage made of fallen trees the curator Christy Collard aims to create "an exotic land, a leafy jungle, and discovering a place that invites you to enjoy the vibrant colours, the magically lit trees, and art installations."
- Belonging Bandstand in the centre of Wellfield the colourful bandstand is a home for talks and discussions from a wide range of people from podcasters, musicians to comedians. It's a great spot to chill during the day and tune into some stimulating chat.
- All Kinds Of Everything run by the Sim Simma crew focuses on dance, presenting a diverse range of artists and genres that represent communities from all over the world, with a focus on Caribbean, African and Latin American cultures.
- Ping Pong Disco is first and foremost a pop-up club, but it's not only that it's an art space, a dance floor a space for performance. Playing bold beats and disco bangers, the high octane line-up has everyone from Tonie Walsh, MC Gaffe, + Eddie Kay. Performance + Go Go dancing driven by the PING PONG GIRLS from Paradise Cabaret.
- The Last City is an imagining of earth in the year 2115, complete with performance, discussions, and music led by Bob Doyle. The Last City aims to promote the duty that every individual has to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystem and live in symbiosis with nature.
- ‘POP-UP’ Library together with Waterford Library, there will be a pop-up library at the festival, complete with pre-loved books on offer alongside talks, workshops and storytelling sessions.
- Theatre of Food is a dedicated food area, which hosts food-themed events, demos, cooking competitions, tastings, workshops, debates.. and of course food!
How do you get there?
By bike, campervan or car (if you have one of those), however festival organisers are encouraging attendees to use public transport where possible. Bus Eireann are running direct buses to the festival from Dublin, there are also trains to Waterford with shuttle buses, for a full breakdown of the travel plans visit the ATN
website.
What's changed about travel management?
Few who attended ATN in 2019 are likely to forget the journey in. As a result organisers
have implemented a new traffic management plan, which includes an additional entrance, a new internal road, additional traffic marshals, alongside up-to-date travel news and live updates via their Festival App, Twitter account and local radio.
Are there showers available?
Showers will be available in the campsites, open from 7am - 12pm and 4pm - 7pm each day.
Can you bring drink in?
You can indeed but there are limitations, each person on a weekend camping ticket is allowed to bring 24 cans OR 1 litre of Spirits OR 1.5 litre of Wine for personal consumption subject to initial entry only. These can be brought into the campsite and main arena. Alcohol can be brought onto the site at time of first entry only. There is no re-entry with alcohol once wristbanded. For safety reasons, you are not allowed to bring glass bottles into the campsite or festival arena, festival-goers are encouraged to decant alcohol into non-glass bottles/containers.
Can you buy drink in there?
If you get sick of lukewarm cans and flat pre-mixed cocktails, you can indeed buy drink in there.
What's the food situation like?
At the Guinness Brewers Yard you can find Baste and Teddy's Ice cream, while The Circle will play host to BBQ grill full of delicious summer bites. If a sitdown dinner is more your thing there's the pre-booked set menu from Pitt Bros x John Relihan Smoked Barbecue. There will be tonnes of food options available for a full list and for information on specific dietary needs please visit the ATN
website.
What food should I prioritise at ATN?
There are loads of must-catch food trucks making their way down to Waterford, here are some of our top things to catch below:
- Home Fries - truly a festival staple these chunks of potatoes are lovingly deep fried and lashed with every manner of sauce.
- YumGrub - Vegan food van ran by vegans slapping out the finest in plant-based fast food.
- Well Nice Pops- A range of Artisan ice pops made from the best of local and seasonal ingredients that will hopefully manifest some ice pop weather for the weekend.
- Little Dumpling- a dim sum chefs make a selection of hand-made dumplings and authentic Hong Kong style roast meats.
- Little Miss Maki- a vegan sushi stand that's been making quite a name for itself touring festivals this summer.
Will there be phone charging there?
There will be phone charging stations on site. But festival organisers do recommend ensuring that your phones are fully charged before going to the festival.
Is car parking free?
Car parking is free, and the car parks will be open from 9am on Friday July 29th until Monday August 1st 2022.
What's the age policy?
ATN is an over 21s festival with the exception of children aged 12 or below who must be accompanied by a paying adult for t+c's visit the
website.
Is it child-friendly?
ATN definitely is child-friendly, there is a dedicated family campsite and loads of kid-friendly activities running throughout the day. There is a lovely communal atmosphere to the festival, and there are always loads of families happily bopping around.
Do I have to camp?
You don't have to camp, you can come and go from the festival grounds as you wish.
Are there day tickets available?
Nope, that's one of the beauties of the festival all attendees have committed to the whole weekend.
Is it sold out?
Yeah, All Together Now has completely sold out.
What's the best way to try get tickets?
Festival organisers have
issued a warning about the circulation of counterfeit tickets and have encouraged hopeful festival-goers to purchase tickets through official means- such as the Ticketmaster
website which re-sales tickets.
What should I pack?
Here's a rough list of things every festival goer should pack:
- A tent and a sleeping bag (a ground mat and a pillow if you are a creature of comfort)
- A warm coat and some waterproof gear, regardless of the weather forecast temperatures dip at night and there's always a chance of rain
- Tissues and hand sanitiser
- Suncream and sunglasses (you truly never know)
- A few snacks for those times you aren't arsed getting out of the tent (Pringles, and cereal bars are the one)
- Reusable bottle there will be loads of water stations dotted throughout the site
- Toothbrush and toothpaste most definitely expected and strongly encouraged
- Shower gel and shampoo for the showers (praise be!)
- A bag of cans bag + some cans
- Some lewks a festival wouldn't be a festival without some jazzy fits
- Comfy shoes if they can be waterproof even better
- Fly spray anyone who lived through wasp-gate in '19 will know
- A sheet mask it doesn't matter who you are a sheet mask will change every festival goers life
Brought to you by All Together Now, for more information on the festival please visit the ATN website.
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