After the long day of auditions in June, our 12 excited finalists and their supporting families & friends were looking forward to the Balbriggan’s Got Talent final – and we knew the final was going to be very special when tickets sold out within 24 hours!  So it looked like the whole town was excited about it too!  Spare tickets were harder to come by than a suntan in Ireland but only a lucky 250 people managed to get some.  Due to the huge demand, our fantastic sound engineer, Jason Fallon, managed to hook up a live-link to the bar in the hotel, so those who unfortunately couldn’t get their hands on a golden ticket were able to see the final for themselves.

Our bubbly mc Joe Sheehan introduced our prestigious judges, Linda Martin, Orla Hopkins-Plant and Terry Quinlan who very generously agreed to judge our final, taking time out of their busy schedules to do so, and to the tongue in cheek tune of “Kill Bill”, our judges came out and took the most important seats in the house.  Then the real stars of the show were introduced, the contestants!  We had 12 very talented performers, ranging from dance groups to Irish dancers to solo singers – a wide range of variety for everyone to enjoy.  The 12 contestants were:

Exclusive – dance group
Hazel Rogers – singer
Sarah-Louise Connell – singer
Sarah Hawkshaw – singer
Karl Harrison – solo dancer
Saorise Ni Mhaolain-Peadar – Irish dancer
Kyriah – singer
T-Harmony – R n’B singer
Sarah Fallon – singer
Kayla Whelan – singer
Susan Garvey – singer
Kerri-Ann Boylan – singer

All contestants walked out to rapturous applause and smiled and waved at the judges and their adoring fans in the audience, once they were ushered backstage, the show could commence!  Sarah Morgan had compiled a dvd of all of the auditions which warmed the audience up no end and finally it was time to introduce the first act.  Joe had got together with all of the finalists earlier that day and briefly interviewed them on camera which was shown before each act.  Kerri-Ann Boylan was the first act to go on and even though it is quite nerve-wracking walking out there on stage, all contestants did themselves and their supporters so proud as they held their heads up high (and their nerves together) and sang/danced their hearts out. 

After each act was finished, Joe asked the judges their opinions and all of the judges were pleasantly surprised at the level of talent although it did make their jobs extremely hard to try and pick 3 acts out of the brilliant 12!!

All 12 acts came on and blew everyone away and finally it was time for our judges to take a break and decide on the top three acts.  There was a raffle with some super prizes and all too soon, all the contestants were back on stage for Joe to announce who was going up for the public vote!  You could hear a pin drop in the room while family, friends and contestants all held their collective breath to find out who was going in.  Being the consummate professional that Joe is, he took a deep breath, smiled for the cameras and announced…..”Sarah Louise Connell….Kyriah….and….Exclusive!”  All three acts and their supporters were absolutely thrilled.  The remaining 9 acts were all disappointed but thoroughly enjoyed the experience and as we said, there is always next year.  Then it was over to the audience…all audience members were given an official Balbriggan’s Got Talent voting slip and they had to write down the act they thought deserved to win.  Once we collected all voting slips, we counted up the votes and in no time had our winner of Balbriggan’s Got Talent 2009. 

Bringing back our 3 acts was a very emotional and nerve-wracking moment – the atmosphere in the room was electric!  Joe announced in 3rd place, Sarah-Louise Connell who won a cash prize and was one of our most bubbly contestants who spent most of her time backstage hugging everyone!  Then it was time to find out our winner….Exclusive and Kyriah all held hands on stage while Joe opened up the envelope….and announced the winner was….Kyriah!  There was a huge roar of approval and she was in total shock, Kyriah is 22 and has been singing since she was a little girl and couldn’t believe that everyone had voted for her, Exclusive were delighted for her and very graciously congratulated her for winning, Exclusive won a cash prize and livened up everything backstage by dancing constantly! 
Kyriah then was presented with her substantial cash prize and a voucher for Troy Horse SongSchool by Linda Martin and then proceeded to perform her winning act once more for all of her new fans! 
All in all, it was a fantastic night filled with happiness and emotion and we only hope that next year will be bigger and better.  Special thanks to Bracken Court Hotel, Joe Sheehan, Terry Quinlan, Orla Hopkins-Plant, Linda Martin, Jason Fallon, Troy Horse Song School, , Susan Ludden, Sarah Morgan, Debbie O’Shea and all of the Balbriggan SummerFest committee especially the Balbriggan’s Got Talent crew, Lisa Tolan, Kelly-Marie Webb and Louise Hannon.

Balbriggan's Got Talent!
Open Auditions

 Saturday 27th June, 9am to 5pm - Bracken Court Hotel

Grand Finale - Saturday 11th July - Bracken Court Hotel.

So if you can sing, dance, play in a band, juggle, tell a few jokes, (or know anyone that can!), come along on Saturday 27th June to audition.

Amazing prizes for 1st/2nd/3rd & spot prizes, raffle on night.

And we promise there will be no Simon Cowell....

About Summer Fest

Contacts

Festival Weekend Events

Become a Volunteer

Links

About Summer Fest
We are a committee of 10 people from Balbriggan who have come together to recreate what once was the “Breakaway Festival” many years ago. We are trying to bring back the community spirit and involvement that has been lost in the expansion of the town as well as showcasing the many clubs/ committees the town has to offer.

The committee members are as follows:
Eddie Carvin  - Chairperson
Rachel Cawley – Secretary
Rhona Tolan – Treasurer
Leona Guildea – Committee Member
Grainne Maguire – Committee Member
Mary Mc Nally – Committee Member
Niamh Dunne – Committee Member
Gary Tolan – Committee Member
Ann Meighan – Committee Member
Lisa Tolan – Committee Member

Contacts
Eddie Carvin  - Chairperson (087 6683296)
Rachel Cawley – Secretary (086 1741809)
Rhona Tolan – Treasurer (086 3019852)

All committee members can be contacted.

Festival Weekend Events

Friday 10th July

Venue “The Square”
7:00pm Parade (starting from Church Car Park through Balbriggan main street, up Chapel Street across Fulham Street, down Clonard Street and finishing on the square).
8:00pm Official Opening by Star Guest
8:30pm – Barman’s Race (starting point: Mc Cormacks pub, De Brun’s, Central, Harvest, Milestone, O’ Sheas, Bracken Court Hotel and finishing line on the Square)
8:00pm – 10pm Live Band (on the square)

Saturday 11th July

Venue “The Beach”
11:00am Sandcastle Competition

Venue “Quay Street Car Park (Tesco car park at the Beach)
12:30pm Pet Show
2:30pm Duck Derby
Face Painting
Go Kart Racing
2:30pm – 8:00pm Live Music (Trailer situated in front of beach looking into car park)
Venue  TBA
4:00pm Photography / Art Exhibition “How you See Balbriggan”
            Finalists of School Art Competition showcased at exhibition  
            Prizes for School Competition Presented

8:00pm “Balbriggans Got Talent” Final held in Bracken Court Hotel

Sunday 12th July

Fun Run meeting in Church Car Park 11;00am to register
Fun Run Charities : Fingal Autism & Remember Us
Fun Run starts at 12:00noon

2:00pm Blessing of the Boats
Venue “Quay Street Car Park”

2:30pm Fun Day
            Variety of clubs in the town showcasing their talents

• Ballet
• Scouts
• Football – Gaelic, Rugby, Soccer

Children’s Entertainment

• Face Painting
• Balloon Making
• Character Dress Up
• Games

3:00pm - 9:00pm Live Music (Bands from the Town) 

Become a Volunteer
To become a volunteer, please email your name and contact number and any additional information, i.e. if you have a trade etc that might be useful in the setting up of the weekend events to : cawleyrachel@hotmail.com We will then be in contact with you.

Upcoming  Events

Launch of Summer Fest – 18th June
Bracken Court Hotel

Saturday 27th June Auditions “Balbriggan’s Got Talent”
Bracken Court Hotel 09:00am – 5:00pm
Balbriggan’s Got Talent Auditions
All Ages welcome