New date for Bachelor Festival
On what would have been the first anniversary of the original show, new dates and the re-launch of the Westmeath Bachelor Festival have been announced. At a small event on Saturday to announce the new dates – the bank Holiday weekend, June 3-6, 2022, Tomás Nally of the organising committee also made a presentation to Ben Dolan.
Tomás said: “Ben, this is from the Westmeath Bachelor Festival in honour of you and Joe and all you did for Mullingar. Joe was the original Westmeath bachelor and made a hit of the song, and you and all the family have done so much for Mullingar. We’re all very proud of you.
“On the night of the competition we wanted to give you this – Louis Walsh was going to present it to you, but it didn’t happen – so now at the relaunch of the Westmeath Bachelor, we’re presenting you with this. Thanks for everything you’ve done, you and the family. You’re legends and Mullingar owes you a debt for your service.”
Responding, Mr Dolan said: “Thanks very much. After all these years, I’d like to say thank you. Mullingar has always been good to us. We always got fantastic support. Joe was a Mullingar man all his life, even up to the very end – he never came from anywhere else only Mullingar, let it be in Russia, or America, or anywhere.
“People used to say to us: ‘Dublin... is that near your country, near Mullingar?’.
“Anyway, it’ll be fantastic to get back working again, even though I’m nearly too old! But, looking forward – here’s to the future!”
The event organisers said their new concept follows support from the public and local business for the original event. “Since the postponement last year, we have been inundated with messages of support and encouragement, publicly and privately, and we would like to thank all who have supported us to date,” they said in a statement.
“The year has been difficult for us all and our committee faced substantial legal and financial predicaments, but that said, we resolved from the offset to give the people of Westmeath the show they deserve.”
The committee thanked the contestants and chaperones for the work they put in before the original date and for their support in the year since. “They are a remarkable group who have forged lifelong friendships through the competition. We hope that as many of them as possible will apply for our new show so we can showcase their talents and personalities to the whole country.
“We would also like to commend their fundraising work which has contributed hugely to their chosen charities and is a testament to the people they are.”
The plans for next year include the new date, a revised competition format and events over three days – subject to the relevant permissions. “It was always our plan to build the competition over three years into a format that would eventually rival The Rose of Tralee in Kerry.
“We have now taken the steps to go directly to year three and give Mullingar and Westmeath a festival that will boost business in the town and give back to the people who have had to endure so much over the last 12 months.
“We concede that all our plans are subject to where the country is at that time, but we are confident we have a date that is realistic and will prove to be a celebration of life post lockdown.
“We would like to again thank the public and businesses of Mullingar and Westmeath for all their support to date.”