DAY 7 – MONDAY JULY 27TH
On Monday morning Kupalo left the Victoria Cross apartments for some more sightseeing in Kilkenny and Wicklow on route to Dublin, where they would spend another night before flying home to Canada. A number of the older non-performing group members were staying in Ireland for an addition couple of days before heading home as well. Jugnu Bhangra left the Cork International Airport Hotel on Monday afternoon, to fly home to London from Cork Airport.
DAY 6 – SUNDAY JULY 26TH
Dunmanway Parish Church had Kabluchok participate in the liturgy at their midday mass on Sunday July 26th, followed by a short dance display outside to the mass goers. This group then travelled up to Carrigaline to join the other groups.
Carrigaline Parish Church for their 12.30 pm Sunday mass had the following groups actively participate in the liturgy – Owenabue Valley, Kupalo and Jugnu Bhangra. A short performance took place outside in the church grounds entertaining many of the mass goers. The groups then paraded from the church to the Owenabue Car Park. The crowds were down on the previous year due to the inclement weather forecast. However this did not deter the crowds that did turn up to join in. MC for the afternoon, Eamonn Cogan, got those in the car park to contact their family and friends to come down to see the international dancers and to join in the fun. As Jugnu Bhangra come on stage with their loud drums, it seemed to draw more spectators in to enjoy the afternoon’s entertainment. Kabluchok gave a number of short performances between other groups. Kupalo got the audience involved in to do some of their Ukrainian dances on the tarmac, while also having demonstrators on the mobile stage and their dance instructor calling each step of the way. Capawareo gave a display of Martial Arts through dance. Owenabue Valley did both a performance on stage and rounded off the afternoon by getting everyone in the car park – locals, tourists and international dancers alike to dance some Irish Ceili dances. As the rain closed in the dancers finished out the dance that they had begun and called it a day at that.
Maloney’s Traditional Restaurant sponsored the meals for all of the performers and volunteers. The additional side amusements were not as busy as had been anticipated over the weekend due to the poor weather conditions.
A farewell party was had in the Carrigaline Community Complex for all the participating groups, their hosts, guides and all the other volunteers that made the festival possible. Barbeque food was sponsored by O’Crualaoi Meats. Some presentations were made to the leaders of each of the groups from the Damhsa Festival and from the other groups. After the party finished Kabluchok departed by bus for Dublin to fly back to Moscow in Russia.
follow the below link to see the Mallow Town Council page on Damhsa Fest 09.
The Damhsa Festival is now one of the established summer events which brings joy and excitement to people in Cork City and to many parts of the county. Colourful International Dance groups entertained locals and tourists at concerts in Carrigaline, Cobh, Blarney, Mallow, Kinsale and Dunmanway as well as Cork City. The highlight of the week was the Dance Extravaganza in Cork City Hall on the Saturday night 25th July where the Kupalo, Ukranian Dance Ensemble: Jugnu Bhangra, Punjab India: Cork based Filipino dance troupe: Cork Irish Dance Company Senior Branch Kiely Walsh Dance Academy: The Kabluchok Folk Dance Group From Russia, Maired and Mick Hickey, and local Owenabue Valley Traditional Group put on spectacular performances. It was the most successful concert to date and the audience gave a prolonged standing ovation at the end of what was an exhilarating night. On Sunday the dancers attended 12.30 Mass in Carrigaline and performed outside the church and later in the Owenabue Car Park before adjourning to the Community Complex for a barbeque and farewell party to bring down the curtain on Damhsa Fest ’09.
