Lingaun Valley Festival Development and Implementation

KLP and STDC has been working with the communities both in Kilkenny and Tipperary to build the Lingaun Valley concept. The work to date has included strategies for both the Kilkenny and Tipperary parts of the region developed in 2018, road and visitor site signage the launch of an Augmented Reality (AR) Smartphone interpretative application for important heritage sites, research on the industrial heritage of the key ‘Slate Quarries’ sites with a view to developing trail and related recreation amenities to support the Lingaun concept. A non-profit company Lingaun Valley Tourism CLG was formed for the community led development and promotion of the area. Recently, a 5-year strategy was developed by Lingaun Valley CLG to develop a pathway for their ambitions of projects over this time. Lingaun Valley CLG and KLP also delivered an innovative rural transport initiative called the ‘Lingaun Loop’ which worked with the Local Link rural transport service to deliver a public transport service to the Lingaun Valley with volunteers from Lingaun Valley CLG providing guided tours and promoting the service in the region. Lingaun Valley Tourism CLG is a community led, voluntary organisation with a representative membership from across the Lingaun region. The Board members are strong leaders of the initiative locally and have driven the delivery of events, festivals and guided tours. Further information is available at linguanvalley.ie and via the attached strategic plan. Lingaun Valley Solstice Festival A significant part of the strategy developed by Lingaun Valley CLG was to develop and deliver a festival in the region. Lingaun Valley CLG have already delivered a significant calendar of events throughout the year including a storytelling festival which is held on the summer solstice each year and celebrates the stories that interpret the history of the region. The ambition of Lingaun Valley CLG is to deliver a festival with national reach that will promote the region, providing a rich visitor experience but one that will ensure none of the activities would have their sites negatively impacted. This festival will be a scaling up of the events delivered previously by Lingaun Valley Tourism CLG and this scaling up will be done gradually over several years. The festival will be is to be delivered over 2 weeks, culminating with most significant events happening around the summer solstice, 21st of June. The strategy identified key proposed elements to the scaled-up festival. • Story Telling – Expansion of Story Telling event that is already developed by Lingaun Valley Tourism to 2 to 3 villages (in rotation) within the Valley using 'Sunday Miscellany' as a template. These events and the stories included in these events are to be linked to themes of Lingaun Valley Tourism sites and stories. • Lighting Display - As the existing event is held annually on the summer solstice on June 21st, the concept of light neatly ties into the existing event. Delivering a ‘Lighting’ Display that can link the key villages in the valley and tell the stories of the Lingaun Valley. Bonfires, Drones, Lanterns and Lasers are all being considered to help illuminate the valley in a meaningful way. • Music Concert - It is proposed to hold a music concert with a popular act in the valley. The proposed location for such a concert is the slate quarries, but appropriate permissions need to be finalised first. This event will draw numbers into the region and provide a great opportunity to promote the other sites of the region to a large crowd. This event needs to be authentic and fit the theme of the valley. The proposed Light display will take place after this music concert. • Community Engagement - While the festival would be focused on building engagement of the brand to a national and international audience, it is also important that a focus of the festival be on the communities living in the valley.