Helium Fundraiser Music Festival
Helium is a summer micro music festival that takes place annually in Skelly’s bar, Ballymahon Co. Longford. The event is in its fourth year and has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2009. Helium is organised on a completely voluntary basis by over 100 people from the local area. The idea of the event is to raise awareness and funds for a very rare illness called Friedreich's Ataxia (www.ataxia.ie) with all profits going to Ataxia Ireland (formerly FASI).
Since its debut the event has caught the imagination of people in the Ballymahon region which has ensured its continued success enjoyed to date. In its first year 2009, the event was organised quite informally and attracted over 400 on the night. As a result Helium 2010 needed much more organisation and subsequently attracted over 800 people.
The event is principally a music event with the intention being to embrace more arts and culture as it grows year on year. In line with continued demand, the music is mainly contemporary Irish rock along with acoustic and some trad music. By adopting this approach the event has become the most anticipated event in the South Longford/North Westmeath area, attracting hundreds of people from near and far to enjoy the ambient setting, top quality music and friendly laid back atmosphere.
This year the organising committee were honoured to be recognised by the Irish Festival Industry and receive the award for Best Social Media & Online Networking Campaign for 2011 at the AOIFE Irish Festival Awards.
Ballymahon men Bernard Mulvihill and Michael Delaney were honoured to be selected as finalists in the Longford Person of the Year competition for 2010 on account of the fantastic organisational work that has been put into the festival over the last three years. They've been working with a crew of over 100 people to ensure the festival continues to be an annual success for the charity, for Ballymahon and for the midlands region in general.
Last year Longford’s favourite micro music festival was headlined by Ireland’s latest success story – The Coronas and drew 1,200 people from all over the country and overseas. Lured in by the affordable ticket price and the great value package on offer, music lovers were treated to a fantastic line up over three stages, free BBQ food, free parking and access to the spacious nearby camping facilities. This year Helium 2012 promises to be no different – with people flooding in to secure their tickets and support a great cause and have a great day out!
This year's line up announced to date includes ASH, Delorentos, Duke Special, Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee & The Clinic, The Kanyu Tree and Jape.
This year, there's an added element of fun with the Ballymahon Traders Association event – the Helium 10k Challenge – a fun run which will take place on the morning of the festival to fundraise even more for the great cause that is Ataxia Ireland! Log onto the Helium Facebook page to find out more.
More details will come on stream live on our website www.heliumfestival.com and on our Facebook page as they are confirmed!
www.heliumfestival.com
www.ataxia.ie
www.myspace.com/noegopromotions
