Festival season is upon us – and the selection of events has never been better. Forbidden Fruit recently took place in sunny style in the grounds of Dublin’s Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, and a host of big hitters will be keeping you occupied around the country for the next few months. If you want to get the most out of the Sea Sessions and Castlepaloozas of this world, however, you need an expert’s eye.

In order to meet that need, Vodafone Ireland has launched Vodafone ‘Centre Stage’, an expansion of their involvement in music, comedy and entertainment. Central to this is their brand new online platform for festival-goers, as they turn the spotlight on Body & Soul, Sea Sessions, Castlepalooza, the Vodafone Comedy Festival, Live at the Marquee and Electric Picnic.
The message is to head to vodafone.ie/centrestage before you grab your wellies, shades and tickets, for exclusive content, the latest news, inside reviews and buzz from around the festivals. And if you haven’t secured your tickets yet, there are great giveaways all summer long.
Contributors to Vodafone Centre Stage include DJ, actress and festival lover Michelle Doherty. Currently based in London, she admits she’s delighted to be a part of the Irish festivities once again.
“Vodafone Centre Stage came at the right time!” she laughs. “A part of me was going, ‘I’ll miss it this year!’ because it would have been my first time away from the festivals. They’ve rescued me!”
She’s already dived into her Vodafone Centre Stage duties, lapping up the sunshine and sounds of Chic at Forbidden Fruit, whilst blogging away online.
“We did so well with Forbidden Fruit weather-wise! It is a very classy way to do a festival, in the city, especially when you get to my age! So it’s kicked off very well. Body & Soul and Sea Sessions are next.
“My role is to get people excited and be there if there’s anything people want to ask me. Sometimes people can be naive about festivals and not realise all the things that are there to see. It’s not only about music.”
In recent years, Ireland’s festival scene has exploded, meaning that there are more options than ever before for music lovers to enjoy. It’s a far more vibrant scene than it was when Electric Picnic arrived a decade ago.
“Yeah, it’s EP’s 10-year anniversary this time,” says Michelle. “Did you check out the video we put up about it on the Centre Stage website? Aw, it’s so cool! It just makes you want to be at it, right there and then!
“I suppose it’s a lot busier now,” she adds, “You wonder: ‘Will I be able to juggle them all?!’ What I have noticed is that festivals now need an extra bonus to them. It’s no longer enough to just have a good line-up. You need bits and pieces to go with it. A good vibe, tailored to specific age groups... There’s so much choice, and that’s what we’re here to help with.”
Of course, it’s not only about the music. The Vodafone Comedy Festival takes place in the Iveagh Gardens between July 26 – 29, meaning there will be plenty of laughs too. A man that knows all about that is rising Laois stand-up Bernard O’Shea – a key contributor to Vodafone Centre Stage.
“I’m going to be providing some exclusive content,” he says. “Doing sketches about the various festivals, as well as general comedy sketches.”
A hardcore festival-goer, O’Shea will be mining his experiences for all their comedic worth. His favourite festival memory comes from his Electric Picnic debut as a performer.
“It was sensational,” he recalls. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt as blown away. I was the very first act on, so I thought there wouldn’t be many people there because it was early in the day. But of course it coincided with no other tent actually being open! I walked out, quite literally, in front of two or three thousand people. I could see underneath the tent and all the way up the hill. It was terrifying! At the halfway stage, outside the tent, you could see people telling others what the joke was. That was just an absolutely bizarre coincidence, but that’s what can happen at festivals, y’know?”
If you want to know the hottest acts to see each weekend, Vodafone Centre Stage has you covered. Plus, it allows you to share your festival experiences with friends.
Michelle O’Doherty and Bernard O’Shea will have plenty more to say on vodafone.ie/centrestage, but for now, what essential advice would they have for festival-goers?
“Absolutely bring toilet roll!” laughs O’Shea. “Plus, you have to bring some kind of tie-dye. There should be more tie-dye at these things! Glowsticks. Straw hats. I also want more GAA hipster cool. I want to see Offaly jerseys on kids with haircuts. But they’d probably go for the retro ones, wouldn’t they?!”
Michelle Doherty goes the practical route.
“Every year I go down to Electric Picnic and think, ‘Why didn’t I just bring a trolley or a wheelbarrow?’! Because my arms are literally the length of my legs by the time I finish carrying stuff! There’s nothing worse than being exhausted and then having to set up a tent – so do whatever it takes to avoid that! Apart from that: wellies, rain coats, sun cream, toilet roll, hand sanitiser and you’re laughing!”
Just add a check-in with Vodafone Centre Stage and you’re good to go.