The Glasgowbury Music Group have just announced the date for the Glasgowbury Music Festival 2009. The date has been set for Saturday 25th July, and once again it all takes place in the stunning surroundings of Eagles Rock just outside Draperstown.

For those of you who don’t know, the Glasgowbury Music Festival continues to be the largest independent music event in Northern Ireland. Last years festival was the biggest and most successful yet, with the likes of Fighting With Wire and ASH amongst the acts.

If you’re in an up-and-coming unsigned band, and you think you’ve got what it takes, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the Glasgowbury Music Group are now accepting submissions from artists and bands for this years festival. As you’d expect, as the festival continues to grow year upon year, competition for slots on the bill is becoming increasingly intense – so get your demo CD’s and presspacks in early. The address to write to is:

Festival Submissions,
Glasgowbury Music Group,
5 Cahore Terrace,
Draperstown,
Co. Derry,
BT45 7LT

You can also get in touch with the folks at Glasgowbury HQ via email: smallbutmassive@gmail.com

More updates as and when we get them….

Having been in the running for no less than 6 separate Irish Festival Awards, the hard-working folks at the Glasgowbury Music Group have gone up against the big boys and managed to come away with two awards – Family Festival Award and Best Service Award – recognition of the fact that it’s not just about selling tickets and packing them into the venue – its also about people enjoying themselves in a safe environment whilst not costing an arm and a leg for a wee bit of sustenance throughout the day.

We’re sure this is only the tip of the iceberg and there will be plenty more silverware sitting on the mantlepiece in the years to come! Congratulations!

Well, the eighth annual Glasgowbury Music Festival is almost upon us (Saturday 26th July for those sleeping at the back!). I know it sounds like a well-worn cliché, but it really is shaping up to be the most successful year in its relatively short history with close to 50 acts, showcasing a diverse selection of home-grown talent.

This time around the festival is headlined by none other than ASH, hailing from Downpatrick, and Northern Ireland’s biggest selling band of all time. To accommodate the growing number of acts, the festival has spawned an extra stage this year – bringing the total to four. They are:

• ‘Small But Massive’ Main Stage
• ‘Spurs of Rock’ Stage
• ‘G Session’ Stage **NEW**
• ‘Eagles Rock’ Acoustic Stage

Whilst the highlight for many will undoubtedly be the music festival, its worth pointing out that there are one or two other things going on throughout the weekend before and after the festival. On Friday 25th July (Glasgowbury Eve) the spiritual home of the G Sessions, the Cellar Bar, will host a live broadcast from Radio Ulster’s Alan Simpson from 3pm – 5pm, followed by Late Show with Stuart Bailie from 10.03pm (precisely) until 11.55pm – we’ll be watching to see what he does with those other 8 minutes. If you aren’t able to make it to the Cellar Bar, or have already pitched your tent at base camp, Eagles Rock, then remember to tune your radio dials to Radio Ulster (92-95fm), and crank up the volume. Both Alan and Stuarts show will feature music and chit-chat from those taking part in the festival. There will be free pints of Carling from 8pm – 9pm (we kid you not!)

Finally, to round things off, if you’re still in a fit state to crawl back to Draperstown on Sunday afternoon, you can nip in to the Cellar Bar which hosts the Aftermath – a sort of festival wind-down, and a chance for a bit of lively banter with your mates to discuss the festival vibes from the night before. Entry is reserved for people with festival wristbands – so don’t loose them alright!

As usual, we’ll be trying our best to get a few photos throughout the day, so feel free to say hello!

Oh – we should also point out that tickets for the event are still available – you can snap them up here. Deadly!

*** Update ***

No sooner had we posted the fact that tickets are now available for the Glasgowbury 2008 Music Festival, than the official lineup has been announced – and get this – there will be 4 stages this year to accommodate up to 50 different acts. Blimey!

The stages are as follows:

• Small But Massive Main Stage
• Spurs of Rock Stage
• G Sessions Stage (New)
• Eagles Rock Acoustic Stage

Here’s a generous sample of who you can expect to see at the festival:

Whilst rumours have been rife, the official lineup for the Glasgowbury Music Festival is yet to be officially announced – in the meantime, if you’re one of those hardened festival-goer’s who’ll be knocking on the festival gates come Saturday 26th July regardless of who is playing, then you’ll be interested to know that festival and camping tickets are now on sale – check out WeGotTickets

Festival-only tickets will set you back £25 whilst if you’re planning to camp then combined Festival & Camping tickets can be had for £30 of your hard earned cash. Oh yeah, almost forgot – theres a booking fee of £2.50

Note: These are e-tickets which you can purchase using a credit/debit card. Never fear though, because you’ll also be able to purchase regular tickets via various regional outlets all across the province – further info will be made available in due course.

We’ve snapped up our ticket – have you?

We’re sure we don’t need to remind all the hardened festival-goers that the Glasgowbury Music Festival website has been revamped for the 2008 Festival (sure we know you check it out every day!) – but just in case you didn’t, we thought we’d let you know!

Details on the line-up of this years festival are sparse at the minute, but when we hear more, we’ll let you know…

The Glasgowbury Music Group have just announced the date for the Glasgowbury Music Festival 2008. The date has been set for Saturday 26th July, and once again it all takes place in the stunning surroundings of Eagles Rock just outside Draperstown.

For those of you who don’t know, the Glasgowbury Music Festival continues to be the largest independent music event in Northern Ireland. Last years festival was the biggest and most successful yet, with the likes of Henry McCullough and Duke Special amongst the headliners.

If you’re in an up-and-coming unsigned band, and you think you’ve got what it takes, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the Glasgowbury Music Group are now accepting submissions from artists and bands for this years festival. As you’d expect, as the festival continues to grow year upon year, competition for slots on the bill is becoming increasingly intense – so get your demo CD’s and presspacks in early. The address to write to is:

Festival Submissions,
5 Cahore Terrace,
Draperstown,
Magherafelt,
Co. Derry,
BT45 7LT

You can also get in touch with the folks at Glasgowbury HQ via email: smallbutmassive@gmail.com

As ever, the organisers are always on the lookout for keen, industrious and dependable volunteers to help ensure everything runs smoothly. If you like the sound of that, and would like to play your part in something small but massive then drop the team a line at glasgowbury@gmail.com. An understanding of event procedures and any relevant previous experience would be an advantage.

More updates as and when we get them….

Well folks, another year, another successful Glasgowbury Music Festival, and let there be no doubt about it because the hills where well and truly alive with the sound of music!

A healthy contingent of dedicated revellers made their way into the hills on Friday evening, ready for the long haul, bolstered by another throng of fresh blood early on Saturday morning. By midday, the campsite opposite the main festival site resembled a patch-work quilt comprising tents of all shapes, sizes, and colours.

Last minute preparations were well underway. A new addition to the festival this year was the open air stage – quite impressive really, and rightly so – given the level of talent that would be treading upon it throughout the day.

We’re busy ploughing through our photographs at the moment, but we hope to have a few snaps online soon – and when we do, you’ll be the first to know!

In the meantime, its time to roll up your sleeping bags, dismantle your tents, and gently nurse your sore heads as you make your way back to the place you call home – don’t forget to regenerate the batteries for next year!

Oh Momma! It’s almost that time of year when the mighty Sperrins will once again be reverberating in perfect unison to the pounding rock anthems at another epic Glasgowbury Music Festival. Now celebrating its 7th year, the event has established itself as Northern Ireland’s largest independent music festival – and rightly so. Whats more, it’s happening right here on our doorstep, slap bang in the rural surroundings of Mid-Ulster. Its inception as a fundraising gig for the Ulster Cancer Foundation helped to provide the initial impetus which has seen the festival go from strength to strength, year upon year. Outwardly, you’d be forgiven for thinking the festival doesn’t take itself too seriously – its very much a safe and relaxed family friendly environment – and thats part of its charm. Everybody is there to enjoy themselves, witness some great up-and-coming musical talent, and generally have a good days craic – so you needn’t worry about being stomped on in a frantic surge to be right up next to the front of the stage. Don’t be fooled though, because under the covers its very much the ‘real deal’ – bucketloads of blood, sweat, and tears (as well as one or two Health & Safety forms no doubt!) go into putting this whole thing together each year.

As ever, at the helm of the good ship Glasgowbury, the man with the plan is the self-effacing but irrepressible character that is Paddy Glasgow from which, in case you hadn’t already guessed, the festival gets its name. Without the passion, focus, and dogged determination of Paddy and the Glasgowbury Music Group folks, quite frankly its a miracle that the festival takes place at all – but to coin a phrase that was quoted to us recently, “He’s a hard man to say no to!“. Capitalising on the success of the Glasgowbury Music Festival, October 2004 saw the emergence of more intimate bite-size gigs in the Cellar Bar, known simply as the ‘G Sessions‘ – you’d probably have to ask Paddy yourself, but we’re guessing they helped to fulfil a number of different criteria. For some artists, they acted as a stepping stone to a future appearance at the main festival, whilst others took the opposite route and played the G Sessions after their stint at Glasgowbury – giving folks the chance to catch them a second time around in cosier surroundings. The G Sessions also cater for those needing their regular fix of Glasgowbury goodness throughout the year between festivals. In any case, whatever the reasons, the G Sessions have the very same ‘Small But Massive‘ ethos pumping through their veins as their older and wiser sibling – quite simply, to showcase both unsigned and established musical talent from our Northern (and Southern) Irish shores.

More recently, the Glasgowbury Music Group has branched out to offer a number of different courses, such as Contemporary Music Practice, Live Sound Workshops, and the Rural Key Music Project – an initiative comprising a diverse series of intense workshops, designed specifically to give young musicians in the Mid Ulster area a step up the musical ladder and exposure to all aspects of the music industry, ranging from sound engineering, artist promotion, songwriting and performance techniques to recording their very own music CD. After a sucessful first year, the Glasgowbury Music Group is now seeking applications for its second intake to the Rural Key Music Project – if you think you might be interested, then drop a line to glasgowbury@gmail.com.

We’ve had the pleasure of attending the Glasgowbury Festival and G Sessions over the past few years and snapped a few pics whilst we where there, so you might want to check out the following image galleries:

• Glasgowbury Music Festivals
• G Sessions

Of course, the festival wouldn’t be what it is without you lot – yes YOU! So, don’t just sit there, checkout the ticket and lineup details – although we’ll be posting details of everything you need to know right here on ballinascreen.com soon too…

Finally, we’d like to wish Paddy and all the good folks from the Glasgowbury Music Group every success with the festival this year – and assuming nothing happens to us between now and then, we’ll be there ourselves to grab a few snaps for the ballinascreen.com Image Gallery so that you can relive the event or see what you missed! We can’t wait!

Deadly!

The Glasgowbury Music Group are now accepting submissions for Glasgowbury 2007.

Well don’t just stand there, get over to glasgowbury.ie now to get the low down!