What a summer it was.
The sun was splitting the rocks, Laois footballers were in Croke Park, and The Old Fort festival held another spectacular weekend on Main Street in June.
The event dovetailed nicely with the Laois footballer’s appearance in their first Leinster Final since 2007, with many supporters returning back from Croke Park to finish off the weekend with the festival.
Even though Laois didn’t come out on top of their meeting with Dublin in the final, Laois certainly celebrated getting there and the Old Fort festival hosted a terrific end to the last weekend in June.
The Old Fort Quarter Festival in Portlaoise received enthusiastic praise for its success over the weekend, at the monthly meeting of Laois County Council.
And as the brilliant photographs by PhotobombTom show, the weekend was blessed with glorious sunshine.
The event dovetailed nicely with the Laois footballer’s appearance in their first Leinster Final since 2007, with many supporters returning back from Croke Park to finish off the weekend with the festival.
Outgoing Cathaoirleach Cllr Padraig Fleming praised the organisers for the work they put in to ensure such a successful festival.
“I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the festival,” Cllr Willie Aird said. “It was 1,000 per cent successful,” he said.
He praised the Gardaí, Laois Civil Defence and all those involved. “I did not see one bit of misbehaviour,” he said.
“It was a great occasion for Portlaoise,” Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald said. She said the CEO John Mulholland had stressed the importance of such a festival in the county.
“It has been a fantastic success and has appealed to all of Portlaoise and beyond,” she said.
She praised all the organisers, particularly Laois Arts Office.
“It was a great weekend in Portlaoise. It looked like a scene from Galway,” Cllr John King said.
“It was a super festival,” said Cllr Noel Tuohy. “It could become one of the biggest festivals in the country,” he said.
“The festival was absolutely brilliant. I have never seen so many people out on the street in years,” Cllr Paschal McEvoy said. “It was being spoken about on national radio, and has massive potential”.
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