Beyond The Pale Festival - 10th-12th June - Glendalough

It's a music festival, not a beer festival.

Obviously having a variety of diverse beers is important to you but surely you must realise that's not that a make or break decision for most people. Yes I'd prefer having other options, but I'm also aware the fine margins these events run on, and exclusivity deals with brands are a big source of income. If BTP has to make these compromises to survive then so be it - I'd rather it stick around and provide some decent acts that I want to see on the rare occasion I actually get to go to a festival these days. That may change if I see a vape stage next year admittedly.

Anyway, some observations:

Yesterday was the easiest exit I've ever made from a festival; they opened up the barriers in the lower campsite allowing us to shortcut through the yurts, and then zero traffic on the way out. Couldn't have gone better.

Encountered zero pricks all weekend and didn't really have issues with security either - kept it to one can, with an occasional extra somehow finding its way into my hood. Cheers to @Van Doozy and the crew, I had a path bet to their stall by the end of the weekend.

If BTP was having trouble selling tickets then it wasn't apparent on the ground, both Saturday and Sunday were wedged for the latter part of the day.

Marc Rebillet and to a lesser extent Richie Hawtin should have been main stage, there was a big overflow outside the tent for both.

The sound system at Cirrus is incredible, although I do think they could elevate the stage and utilise the visuals a bit more.

The Kabin Crew workshop was a lovely wholesome start to Sunday, and GMC's experience with the kids clearly showed as he expertly handled some participants who were a little worse for wear.

I can only assume toilets, urinals and water stations cost more than most of us assume, as I can't understand why festivals consistently undersupply on that front. Fortunately the campsite wasn't too far a walk for the ladies in our group when things got exceptionally busy, and there was plenty of availability there.

The Bahay Midsummer Feast was definitely not worth the money.

Gilla Band continue to be the best band in Ireland/Europe/the world.

I fully agree with all the points made by Phizzledizzle above. I love a beer but I don't get why so many people are obsessed by it. You're there to enjoy the music and ultimately the beer is a delivery mechanism for the drug that helps you relax and forget your worries for a few hours.

I was chatting to a bloke who runs another boutique festival and the costs involved are tremendous - I think most people including myself would totally underestimate how much it costs to get some of the artists on the bill. So the festival has to try and recoup costs by having an exclusive beer option for one of the main brewers.

This was my first time going to a festival on my own and I must say I was somewhat apprehensive and was wondering if I'd be dying to get home by Sunday. I'm glad to say that it was the complete opposite. The people that camped beside me were some of the coolest people I've ever had the fortune to meet and I feel like I made genuine lasting friendships. Any time I ended up on my own, there was never a shortage of people to chat to - I've never been anywhere, where people were so friendly, open and generous. I think that the lack of phone coverage helped enormously with that and I hope that never changes. In fact festivals would be better without phones altogether IMO. When I went back to the campsite, there was always someone sitting around the fire pit up for a bit of divilment or just chewin the fat.

Nearly everyone I saw packing up yesterday left no trace of rubbish behind them. It was really easy to get out. And lastly shout out to the Gardaí who were sound and never bothered anyone at all as far as I could see. I know some people would prefer if they weren't there, but when you have that amount of people consuming a lot of drink & God knows what, their presence can be reassuring for others.

Musical highlights for me Halina Rice, 808 State, James Holden, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Thievery Corporation and the totally unexpected vibrancy & madness of Aindrias & the Latchikos in Strawberry Fields.

Could not have aske for better weather for it. Got scalded with factor 30.

Some weekend that was! Didn't know 95% of the lineup and yet every act I saw were unreal. They could have probably arranged the stage times and locations a bit better. Having The Scratch on that early and for such a small amount of time was criminal.

Could have done with more toilets and showers around the camping areas. More of an issue for my female friends.

The "free flow" policy was a little disappointing but the security guard mentioned that the alcohol sponsors are the one who pushed for it. A pouch of vodka under the bucket hat avoided this issue. Never encountered any strict searches at all and on several occasions went in with more than one can.

The food options were very good imo. Those dumplings were savage.

From that video it sounds like Holmes played Safe by Monkey Safari. Amazing tune!

Yes. Saw it twice. Casing the place for cans.

A red kite I think.

Some clips I've uploaded which I'll throw here as well as the blog.

Alvvays.

2ManyDJs.

Dug from Puc Fada.

Rival Consoles.

808 State.

Concluding some of the Friday clips.

We did the bird walk and the lad said it was a kite.

That's it, lovely track. Cheers.

Seeing as I've broken my lurker status thought I'd also add thoughts on BTP.

It was our 1st time at this one in absence of B&S, though we were very tempted by 2023s spread, just not enough to do two fests back to back. It's a struggle when they are two weeks apart nowwere the wrong side of 40 😉.

All in all, We enjoyed, good spread and the vibe was indeed sound as a pound but its just seems a bit lacking in somthing, our conclusion, its lacking a soul. Perhaps this will come with time but I fear that if pushing capacity much more than 10/12k that's always lost. That or I'm just spoiled from years of going to smaller sub 10 or even sub 5k festivals.

Personally I did enjoy a festival with a slightly heaver lean on the EDM range that did still have actual artists not just endless dj sets. But this is not uncommon on the festival scene and thus not enough to make me jump on early bird tickets which I see are coming out next Friday.

Ovreall: Solid line up, not great for musical discoveries or unknowns, feels very 'off the shelf' but we did have a good time, genral vibe chilled no agro or sketchyness. From looking at past years Vs this the overall Arts program was improved it seems which we do like to take time time away from stages on.

13th to the 15th of June next year. Won't clash with whatever Body and Soul are planning for the following week.

Had a great weekend at BTP.