All Together Now: We take a first look at Ireland's hottest new festival

As we arrived at the site location yesterday afternoon, we were greeted by the ATN crew with goody bags. We were then directed to take our seats on the picnic blankets laid out on the lawn over looking Curraghmore Estate, where we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a few refreshing gin and tonics - just what we needed in the sweltering heat. We had the privilege of watching drone footage sweeping over the stunning 3,000 acre site followed by a guided tour of the grounds, showing us what the festival has in store for the August bank holiday.

Curraghmore Estate in Waterford is one of the oldest surviving privately owned estates in Ireland. The house has recently been inherited by Lord and Lady Waterford, and for the first time in 800 years, the couple have welcomed the public into the estate for events such as these. The surrounding landscape is breath taking with ancient forests, mountains, rivers and lakes, lawns, courtyards and lush plains. Music, art, friendship, and camaraderie are the tenets by which All Together Now will adhere. So what can we expect?

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Not only does the festival boast a stellar line up with Fleet Foxes, Róisín Murphy, Mura Masa, and the Villagers to name a few, All Together Now will accommodate 16 stages of music, theatre, comedy & spoken word. The festival is open to the whole family with a ‘Kids Together’ area where creativity and space can run freely within the safe, walled garden. Not to mention, this area also will hold a ‘kids rave’ with eco-friendly glitter and glow sticks, keeping the environment in mind. ‘Food & Feasts’ will grace the gardens (and our plates hopefully) with an eclectic mix of tastes featuring the Waterford Way Farmers market, and a ‘Gospel Brunch’ accompanied by the London Community Gospel Choir. Keep your eyes on the website for more info, as some of these events are ticketed.
Once you’ve had your feed, you can head over to the ‘Lawns of Tranquillity’, located on the serene lakeside where you can flake out and melt into the calming surroundings. The treatment area will facilitate a number of relaxation activities including sauna, hot tubs, yoga, and massage, along with other types of healing such as sound, taste, sight, touch and Sixth sense. I can hear the chirping birds and trickling water already.

At night time, once you’re refreshed and ready for the party to begin, you can head over to observe the spectacle that is ‘Arcadia Spectacular Afterburner’. Think burning man – Arcadia is an immersive 360 degree installation of scrap metal sculptor Pip Rush Jansen and engineer Bert Cole. Built from repurposed military hardware, the Afternburner fuses sound, light, sacred geometry, an inward facing 360 degree soundfield and 20 foot flames amplifying both the music and the energy into an unforgettable dancefloor experience. You can also expect electronic audiovisual arts, founded by Sarah McBriar over at ‘The Road to Nowhere’, and a broad selection of Reggae, Dancehall, Afrobeat, Brazillian, Soca and Grime in the Curraghmore forest at the One Love stage by Dublin-based collective, Sim Simma.

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If you’re not sold already, most importantly All Together Now prides itself for it’s eco-friendly ethos, with sustainability at it’s core. To make sure the Curraghmore estate, and our beautiful environment are left in the way they were found post-festival , ATN are implementing a number of initiatives to create an example of sustainability for other festivals to follow in their lead. No single use plastic will be provided by the festival, with all vendors using fully compostable serve ware.
You also have the option of purchasing a cardboard, fully recyclable tent to help reduce campsite waste. ATN have even designed their own Eco water sourced from sustainable FSC certified forests, making it recyclable and reusable. But that just names a few of the ways this festival has gone above and beyond to look after our environment, which is an immensely important discussion in today’s political climate. Well done All Together Now! We hope this is the start of the new norm for future festivals to come.
For tickets and more information, head over to https://www.alltogethernow.ie/