There’s nowhere quite like the ‘Garden of Ireland’ on a warm summer’s day, and at Beyond The Pale at Glendalough Estate, Co. Wicklow, festival goers had the chance to experience three solid days of sunshine – meaning this year’s event was always going to be a bit special.
The fifth year of the festival brought together more than 600 artists and performers across 15 stages and special areas over three days, as well as a comprehensive arts programme and the ‘Beyond The Plate’ food and drink experience.
Headliners at this year’s event included Caribou, Primal Scream, Soulwax and Father John Misty, while other artists appearing over the weekend included Honey Dijon, Of Monsters and Men, TSHA, NewDad, Madra Salach, Claptone and many more.
We’ve said it before, but Beyond The Pale really is a gem of a festival – both for the musical curation (which was on point, as always, this year) and the positive vibes of those in attendance – it’s a festival that can’t help but put a smile on your face.
Highlights for the 909originals team over the weekend included The Sabres of Paradise, one of the acts we had been looking forward to most, and they certainly did not disappoint. In fact, we met several people at the festival who were there specifically to see Jagz and Gary in action (check out our recent interview with them here), and when the opening chords of Smokebelch II filled the Selective Memory tent, the mood was euphoric.
They were part of a Saturday lineup absolutely packed with must-sees. Marie Davidson and 2 Many DJs were suitably epic, Sister Sledge perfectly captured the sun-soaked atmosphere, and the Subject takeover of the Selective Memory tent, featuring Cailín, Kittin, Ben Klock and Sunil Sharpe was so engrossing that we completely lost track of time — and missed Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine joining Primal Scream on the main stage. Next time, perhaps.
Friday had plenty of stand-out moments too – Caribou and Tinlicker got the festival off to a rousing start – while the final day, Sunday, blended both blissful ambience, from the likes of Nouvelle Vague and Horace Andy, and upfront beats, courtesy of Max Cooper (a joyous assault on the senses) and former Beastie Boy Mike D, performing with his new ‘5D’ musical collective.
That’s to say nothing of the countless other performances we caught across the three days – far too many to mention individually – where the prevailing emotion was one of pure joy. And when things got a little too full-on, there was always a friendly alpaca on hand to help restore a sense of calm (seriously).
Any negatives? The addition of the separately-ticketed ‘Round Tower’ overlooking the main stage worked in practice, but the bar service wasn’t great. Food stalls were pretty expensive – €15 for a crepe – and the lingering smell of urinal at the back of the Cirrus Garden area was a bit off-putting. But were these enough to put a dampener on proceedings? Not in the slightest. 🙂
Roll on Beyond The Pale 2027! Check out some photos from over the weekend below. Main photo by Aron Cahill. Other photos by Owen Humphreys, RuthMedjber, Scott Dagg and Aiesha Wong.
