Local Events and Information

Whats on 2010?

It was a great honour to be a judge of the Westmeath Rose 2010. The winner, Cathy Brougham from Garnefailaigh, will now battle it out at the Regional Finals in June for a place at the Rose of Tralee Festival in August. Best of luck Cathy.

Athlone is the envy of every town and city in Ireland this year, 2010 will see Athlone welcome thousands of visitors during the coming months to a variety of festivals, conferences and sporting events.  At a time when businesses are struggling to survive, this sizable influx of visitors is a welcome boost to the local hospitality sector and to the wider economy.  And at the same time, this year represents a huge opportunity for Athlone, after all we are on show to thousands of visitors. If they go home happy and spread the good news about Athlone we will benefit from repeat visits, conferences, sporting events and who knows what else!

So, this really is a big test for us all; The Council, Businesses and the citizens of Athlone.  I am pushing the Council to make sure that the town is properly prepared and looking well for our 2010 events.  Its simple, you only get one chance to do these things right, so this town needs to be gleaming and looking its very best.  Businesses must play their part too by offering good value and giving good service and resist the temptation to hike prices when our visitors are here.  Finally, we all need to come out with our friends, neighbours and family to welcome our European visitors, cheer on the athletes, sample the festivities and in general support all that’s going on in Athlone this year. And, if we are to believe the long-term weather forecasters, the good news is we are in for a great summer!

Here is a flavour of whats on in 2010:

The RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival
is Athlone's biggest annual theatrical event with hundreds of people from all over Ireland visiting Athlone. Held at the Dean Crowe Theatre from 30th April to 8th May, the event sees Ireland's top nine amateur drama groups compete for the coveted Festival Trophy. The festival comes at the end of a grueling circuit in which over thirty drama groups from all over Ireland compete at 35 local festivals held nationwide from February to April. The top nine groups qualify for the finals in Athlone and will battle it out for the premier award and for the honour of being declared All Ireland Champions.

Waterways Ireland triAthlone, 
incorporating the ITU European Triathlon Championships will take place form Thursday 1st - Sunday 4th July 2010.  Athlone is hosting the 2010 European triathlon championships as part of triAthlone this year.  The European championships will take place on the Saturday and Sunday.  This is the biggest sporting event ever to take place in Athlone and will see over 5000 athletes from around Ireland and Europe compete in over 12 different triathlon events. Interestingly, with 25 people allowed per age group per sex for the host country. If Ireland filled all our slots we could have an Irish team of over 600 athlete's across all events.


Lough Ree International Pike Angling Festival 2010. 
This festival is open to all anglers and will take place on Lough Ree over three days. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon and has been chosen to host this event based on the quality of its pike angling.  All lawful angling methods will be allowed and for conservation reasons all fish will be measured and released immediately. Anglers fishing from boats will be required to have their own digital camera so that any fish caught can be photographed and released immediately. The entry fees is €50 per angler per day or €125 for three days. April 14th – 16th.


The 6th Annual Athlone People of the Year Awards:
The Awards night will take place on Friday 23rd April in the Radisson Blu Hotel.  These Awards celebrate human endeavour, supporting others with dignity and outstanding achievement. Eight people will be selected as the Athlone People of the Year Award winners with one person winning the overall award on the night. Brendan Grace will Host the event this year. 


Euro Festival Athlone 2010: 
The European Peoples Festival will be hosted by Athlone Town Council from July 24th to 31st. The Festival promises to bring a unique flavour of the diverse and distinctive culture and language of our European colleagues to our home town.  Almost 900 participants from 15 European countries will be our guests for the week as they compete in sport, art, photography and street theatre events. There will also be cultural performances each evening and at lunchtime, cookery demonstrations and countries will present their food and drink products and promotional literature of their homelands in the Euro-village.


HSE Community Games - AIT Athlone
1st Weekend Friday 28th May 2010.
2nd Weekend Friday 13th Aug 2010.
3rd Weekend Friday 20th Aug 2010.

For decades the Community Games Finals were held at Mosney but decided to find a new location for their 2009 finals. Given Athlones fine sporting infrastructure, central location and accommodation base, the games moved to Athlone in 2009.  The Community Games is an independent voluntary organisation providing opportunities for children and young people to grow and develop in a positive and healthy way through sporting and cultural activities.  The games are a fantastic win for Athlone bringing significant revenue to the town each year.  These games are however only committed to Athlone for 2 more years.  I will be working hard with the games organisers, the AIT and the Council to make sure that the games make Athlone their long-term home.

For more information on whats happening in Athlone this year  Visit the Athlone.ie website