HOTELS are booking up fast following confirmation that Ballydehob is to host its first-ever Match & Catch festival for people looking for love!
Organisers of the event – which takes place over the St Brigid’s Bank Holiday weekend – believe the festival could grow to rival the world-famous matchmaking festival at Lisdoonvarna.
Every September, the small village in Co Clare is overrun with singletons hoping to find love in the old-fashioned way.
Ballydehob has decided to follow suit and go back to the old ways by making this a matchmaking festival completely offline.
Dan Harte, who is famous in these parts for being both decent and droll, as well as a fine comedic actor and Strictly Come Dancing star, has agreed to be the matchmaker throughout the four-day festival, from Friday, January 31st to St Brigid’s Day on Monda,y February 3rd.
Barry O’Brien, one of the committee members, will attest to the fact that there’s a lot of single men in the area who frequent his pub, The Irish Whip, but have an abhorrence of dating apps.
Dan, who is perhaps best known as one half of the duo who got married in The Royal Wedding dining theatre spectacular which raised €45,000 for charity in Skibbereen, said the emphasis over the weekend will be on fun, but the plan is also to provide single people with genuine connections.
Dan will be working the crowd in his role as Willie Dineen – a matchmaker in the style of the famous storyteller Eamon Kelly.
He will be assisted by Mary Dineen, and the duo will be going by the book – literally a highly confidential book in which people, for a small registration fee of €20, can enter their details, desires and preferences with a view to making a match.
‘We’ll be asking them, male and female, what they are looking for and making introductions so they can go meet up for a stroll or a cup of coffee, a bite to eat, or attend one of the many gigs in the village over the weekend,’ said Dan.
The matchmaker and his assistant will be accessible, as they do the rounds of the village, but anyone who would like their business conducted in a more circumspect way can visit Bank House from 11am to 12.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
The event has been featured on Hot Country TV, which may account for the fact that hotels in Skibbereen, Schull, and Bantry are reporting brisk bookings.
‘It’s not just the people of Ballydehob who want romance,’ said Barry O’Brien. ‘We are already getting calls from all over West Cork and beyond from people looking for a partner.’
The matchmaking festival brings to nine the number of fun festivals held in Ballydehob throughout the year.
The committee – including Eddie Hodnett chairman, Christine O’Regan treasurer, Bernie O’Brien secretary, Barry O’Brien PRO – have put a lot of work into the programme.
With the support of their sponsors, Comans Beverages and Cork County Council, they have booked Effie Neill and the Barry Doyle Band, as well as Colin Kenny, Eddie Lee, Shaun Loughrey and Ger Deasy to provide musical entertainment throughout the weekend.
