The biggest success of last year s Homelands Ireland festival was that it spurred on other events to take place. We need more festivals in Ireland, whether Homelands, Slane, Fiile, or whatever there s a unique atmosphere just not captured at a gig.
So says John Reynolds, one of the co-promoters of what was Ireland s largest ever dance festival, a triumphant success that saw the Irish dance scene come of age, in a meeting of the tribes who became embraced by one common, unifying sense of euphoria and elation. Who d have thought a few years back that 25,000 clubbers would be running around Mosney Holiday Centre, waving tri-colours adorned with the Mitsubishi logo, and celebrating all that s wonderful about dance music and clubbing on this fair isle of ours, with not a sniff of trouble?
This year John Reynolds gets his wish, with four massive dance events in Ireland, catering for crowds from 15,000 up to 35,000. The first is back at Mosney on April 29th, and the theme is most definitely homegrown .
The number of top quality demos he received from young spinners across the country eager to get their big break stunned Ken Kane, responsible for putting together the line-up for the new Homegrown arena.
But as he points out: there s a huge Irish presence in all the other arenas anyway, even more so than last year, when 35% of the line-up was Irish.
Some critics have knocked this year s bill, claiming that Leftfield are the only major attraction, and while I d be quick to question the inclusion of Ian Brown and Primal Scream, I still think this year s festival has the potential to become an even greater achievement than the last.
With such a predominantly Irish line-up it s a truer celebration of Irish club culture, and the exciting prospect of an Irish dance festival with no international guests at all already seems like a reality that can t be too far down the road.
Which shows you just how much the first Homelands event really achieved just twelve months ago, the prospect of an Irish dance festival becoming a reality seemed as far away as
ever.