The start of great festivals to come

Mullingar's 'number one fan' town councillor leader Ruth Illingworth was more than pleased to help officially launch the Discover Mullingar day."I feel immensely privileged to have grown up in this town," she said. "It is a great opportunity to brighten up some of the dark times that we have all been experiencing lately and as first citizen of Mullingar I am also privileged to be wearing my historian's hat on the day for my walking tours which are part of the programme. The town needs a festival and this could be the start of something great," she said.Ruth's walking tours will be just one of the highlights of the day's events and best of all, everything arranged for Discover Mullingar, from face painting to tea and coffees, will be free courtesy of the county council, Failte Ireland and the generosity of the town's businesses.County Council chairman Fintan Cooney said the day would be a celebration of the town's great musical traditions and praised what he called the "tremendous efforts" that it had taken to organise the day."Mullingar is music," he said. "From Mullingar Town Band, to Joe Dolan, the Swarbrigg brothers and of course The Blizzards we have a long and proud tradition of musical talent. Then of course we have the Mullingar Choral Society and Eilis Tynan whose vocal talent has led her to be engaged by the world's leading opera houses. I would appeal to everyone to come out and actively support the day."Damien Brennan of Failte Ireland said that the aim of the day was to encourage people to become ambassadors for Mullingar."We can frequently overlook the most obvious things about the place that we live in," he said. "We have just had some journalists on a visit here, you know sophisticated Dublin 4 types, and they just couldn't believe what Mullingar and the Midlands had to offer and they will be writing it about it in the national press very soon. The day in Mullingar is the fourth event of this kind to have been organised in Ireland and we are more than sure that it will be a success the events in Athlone, Carrick-on-Shannon and Enniskillen certainly were. All we need now is for the weather to hold out," he said.Discover Mullingar is essentially a large scale family fun day and organisers have taken pains to ensure that there really is something for everyone. An eight page leaflet with a full list of events including a timetable is widely available in shops and restaurants.The day kicks off at 12 noon on Sunday September 27 and will go on until 6pm. There will be street theatre and kids entertainment across the town and various events at the Annebrook, Mullingar Park and the Greville Arms. As well as historical walking tours there will be a chance for a guided tour of the cathedral museum and Columb Barracks.Check out disoverireland.ie/lakelands for more information