Agnew track features in new TV advert

Dundalk singer/songwriter Stewart Agnew recently announced that one of his songs was set to feature in a new travel advert, with the ad for Imagine Cruising now on TV

Agnew signed a three year deal with the company for his track ‘Look How The Stars Turn On” to be used in their UK, South Africa and Dubai ad campaign.

The campaign launched on September 7^th and will hopefully lead to bigger and better things for Agnew.

‘Look How The Stars Turn On’ was taken from Agnew’s last album ‘Hello Bright Spark’, which is four years old this month.

Check out the ad above.

First ever Caravan of Love Festival deemed a huge success

The Four of Us on stage at the Caravan of Love Festival on Saturday night

The first ever Caravan of Love Festival held in Gyles Quay over the weekend has been declared a complete success by organisers Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew.

The first festival goers began arriving in the peninsula on Thursday evening and despite the torrential rain on Friday night an excited audience were in their seats in plenty of time for top class performances by Stewart Agnew and James Humston while headliner Damien Dempsey raised the roof with a strong performance that had everyone on their feet and singing.

Day two had a family fun element with a Pelican Play Zone for children while music lovers were in the Caravan of Love Marquee for afternoon performances by The Stormers, We the Oceanographers, Paul Bailey Band, Mother Made Us and The Sensations.

Saturday night’s audience were queuing at the door while soundchecks were going on inside Ferguson’s Bar and were not to be disappointed by excellent performances from Cian Connolly and Finnian.

The Four of Us gave an amazing performance and the audience were once again on their feet, dancing and singing along with Brendan Murphy declaring from the stage ‘What an amazing night – What an amazing setting!’

Mundy who had only returned from the US the previous night was, by his own admission, sleep deprived, not that anyone would have known by the amazing set he performed. Of course ‘Galway Girl’ was a huge success as was ‘July’ which moved into Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m on Fire’.

The Festival wound down on Sunday afternoon with more performances in the Marquee, this time from Pete & Tara Johnson and Zoe Conway & John McIntyre.

Both Niall Ferguson & Stewart Agnew are more than happy that they invested months of time and effort to create a festival that celebrated not only national music but supported local musicians and enterprise.

Niall said: “This was our first festival here at Ferguson’s Bar and we’re delighted with how things have gone. It’s not just been down to us, we enlisted the help of a number of local businesses and the people in the area have been very supportive, so it has been a very positive experience for the area.

Stewart was also happy. He said: “It’s been a great opportunity to have our own local talent play on the same stage with legendary names such as Damien Dempsey, The Four of Us and Mundy. It was also fantastic to hear our top musicians tell us how much they enjoyed the Festival.”

The Caravan of Love organisers had a number of thanks:

• Diageo
• Stephen Hand, Stage & Lighting
• All Ferguson bar staff, security etc
• Anthony & Anne Ferguson
• Claire Ferguson
• All performers, both in the Bar and the Marquee
• Local residents for supporting a local initiative
• Photospeed.ie & Carroll’s Bookshop
• Ferguson’s Bar Facebook friends
• Pelican Promotions
• Local press including LMFM, Argus, Dundalk FM and Talk of the Town
• And a final huge ‘THANK YOU’ to the audience for supporting Caravan of Love.

Countdown is on to Caravan of Love

There are only days left to the first Caravan of Love Festival in Gyles Quay and the feedback has been so positive that organisers Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew have extended the three day festival to include family fun events on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Now in addition to the music festival with headliners Damien Dempsey on Friday night and Mundy plus The 4 of Us on Saturday night, there will also be live music on Saturday and Sunday afternoons with a Pelican Play Zone for children.

Niall and Stewart explained the positive response to Caravan of Love 2015.

“There had been a great reaction to the live music but people were also asking if there’d be anything for children, so we have added that onto the afternoon events,” Niall said.

Stewart, meanwhile, said he can’t wait until the start of the Festival.

“We can’t wait to get things going. Adding the family fun events does add to the organisation of the Festival but it will be so much better. Roll on Friday!”

Caravan of Love Tickets are priced as follows:

Friday €20; Saturday €35; Sunday free; Weekend ticket €55

Tickets are available from Fergusons Bar; Gyles Quay 042  9376660; Photospeed, Long Walk Shopping Centre, Dundalk 042 9355667 and Carroll’s Book Shop, Park St, Dundalk 042 9334359. For touring enquiries contact 042 9376262.

For further updates for Caravan of Love 2015 follow Ferguson’s Bar on Facebook and Twitter.

Please note no children will be permitted into the main festival line ups taking place each night inside Fergusons Bar.

Agnew track to feature in travel ad in the UK, South Africa and Dubai

One of Dundalk singer/songwriter Stewart Agnew’s songs is set to feature in a new travel advert.

Agnew announced this afternoon that he had signed a three year deal with UK travel company Imagine Cruising for his track ‘Look How The Stars Turn On” to be used in their UK, South Africa and Dubai ad campaign.

The campaign will launch on September 7^th and will hopefully lead to bigger and better things for Agnew.

‘Look How The Stars Turn On’ was taken from Agnew’s last album ‘Hello Bright Spark’, which will be four years old next month.

Stewart will be performing at next month’s Caravan of Love Festival in Gyles Quay, which he has co-organised with Niall Ferguson, and plans to release the first single from his new album before the end of the year.

It is expected that his fourth album will be out in the springtime.

Two weeks to go until Caravan of Love Festival

There’s just over two weeks to go until Caravan of Love 2015, takes place from September 11-13^th at Ferguson’s Bar, Gyles Quay.

The Festival is encouraging an end of season tourism boost in the Peninsula with Ferguson’s confirming that the Glamping Pods – new to Gyles’ Quay this year – are now fully booked for the duration of the Festival.

The Caravan of Love line up for Friday and Saturday includes Damien Dempsey, Mundy, The Four of Us, Stewart Agnew, Finnian, James Humston, Cian Connolly, The Oceanographers, The Paul Bailey Band and The Stormers.

The Festival will wind down on Sunday with a traditional session featuring Zoe Conway & John McIntyre.

Caravan of Love 2015 organisers are very happy with the response to the Festival.

“We’re happy to say that our new Glamping Pods are fully booked for Caravan of Love,” explained Niall Ferguson,“but we can still help those with other touring enquiries. We’re also aware that some people have booked into local hotels and we’re very happy that the Festival is creating an end of season tourism boost not just for us but for others in the area.”

Stewart Agnew explained that the festival organisers are very conscious that some festival goers will not want to take their cars and so plans are afoot to offer transport between Dundalk and Gyles Quay at a very reasonable price.

“This means people can relax and enjoy the day and be sure they have their lift home after each night. If anyone else coming to the Festival has a query re transport they can make contact via the Fergusons Bar Facebook Page”.

Caravan of Love Tickets are priced as follows:

Friday €20; Saturday €35; Sunday free; Weekend ticket €55

Tickets are available from Fergusons Bar; Gyles Quay 042  9376660; Photospeed, Long Walk Shopping Centre, Dundalk 042 9355667 and Carroll’s Book Shop, Park St, Dundalk 042 9334359. For touring enquiries contact 042 9376262.

For further updates for Caravan of Love 2015 follow Ferguson’s Bar on Facebook and Twitter.

Early bird tickets for BruFest go on sale this evening

Early bird tickets for BruFest will go on sale from 6pm this evening.

BruFest is the inaugural indoor festival of Park Street venue, Brubakers, and will take place on Saturday and Sunday September 26^th and 27^th.

Headliners of the event will be Hamsandwich, Paddy Casey, Red Empire and The Original Rudeboys.

There will also be a range of local talent performing including David Keenan, Stewart Agnew and Finnian, with many more acts still to be announced.

Call into Brubakers from 6pm to get your hands on an early bird ticket, priced €30.

Five weeks to go until Caravan of Love festival at Gyles’ Quay

There’s only five weeks to go until Caravan of Love 2015, Ireland’s newest music festival, taking place from September 11-13^th at Ferguson’s Bar, Gyles Quay.

The line up to date has been confirmed as follows:

• Friday: Damien Dempsey supported by Stewart Agnew and Finnian
• Saturday: Mundy, The Four of Us supported by David Keenan plus more acts to be announced
• Sunday: Traditional Sunday session with Zoe Conway & John McIntyre, The Crawley Family plus more acts to be announced.

Response to the festival has been extremely positive, according to promoters Niall Ferguson and Stewart Agnew.

“The local reaction to the Festival has been excellent and we’ve been lucky enough to receive the support and sponsorship from Diageo,” said Niall.

“We have been having a very busy summer season at the bar and caravan park in Gyles Quay and there is great excitement building up to Caravan of Love 2015.

Agnew is equally upbeat.

“All our early bird tickets sold out really quickly, and the feedback we have been receiving is excellent. It is going to be a brilliant weekend of live entertainment,” he said.

“We also hope to arrange transport from Dundalk en route to and from Gyles Quay for those wanting to leave the car at home.”

Caravan of Love Tickets are priced as follows:

Friday €20; Saturday €35; Sunday free; Weekend ticket €55

Limited spaces are available for camping and glamping.

Tickets are available from Ferguson’s Bar; Gyles Quay 042 9376660; Photospeed, Long Walk Shopping Centre, Dundalk 042 9355667 and Carroll’s Book Shop, Park Street, Dundalk 042 9334359.

Exciting line-up announced for BruFest

Brubakers have announced the line-up for their inaugural indoor festival, BruFest, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday September 26^th and 27^th.

Headliners of the event will be Hamsandwich, Paddy Casey, Red Empire and The Original Rudeboys.

There will also be a range of local talent performing including David Keenan, Stewart Agnew and Finnian, with many more acts still to be announced.

Tickets for the festival will go on sale shortly.

Belles Coffee Boutique opening in Dundalk on Monday

Belles Coffee Boutique will open in Clanbrassil Street on Monday with a special private launch event taking place from 6pm this evening.

The sister café of the popular Belles Tea Rooms in Blackrock, it will be located in The Cellars at McEvoy’s Department Store.

Tonight’s private launch night gets underway at 6pm with a wine reception and entertainment from local singer/songwriter Stewart Agnew.

Belles Coffee Boutique will then open to the public on Monday morning.

The new venture, run by Mark and Michelle McCumiskey, has been described as “an elegant shabby chic coffee room that serves the finest coffee and homemade pastries, savoury and sweet.”

For further details call 086 778 9361.

Over €7,500 raised in Ferguson’s for North Louth Hospice

An Irish rugby jersey being auctioned off on the night

A cheque for €7,560 was recently presented to the North Louth Hospice and Homecare Foundation by Michael Crawley and Niall Ferguson of Ferguson’s Bar in Gyles’ Quay.

The money was raised via a fundraising night in Ferguson’s, with Kathleen Kelly and Maretta Callan accepting the cheque on behalf of the hospice.

Commenting on the presentation, Michael said: “The night could not have been such a huge success without the hard work and support of Niall and all the team in Ferguson’s Bar for hosting the night. Thanks also to Henry Mac, Stewart Agnew, The Stormers and the McCollum Brothers for a great night’s entertainment.

“Special thanks to Sean Connor, Archie Murphy and Padraic Renaghan for donating jerseys for the auction and to everyone who donated prizes for the raffle. Special thanks also to Blackstone Motors for their generous support. Finally to everyone who bought tickets and who turned out in their hundreds to make the night such a great success.”