The emergence of new names on the country music circuit is helping to rejuvenate the famous Lisdoonvarna Festival.

Five weeks of festivities got underway in the Clare town last weekend and thousands are expected to make the journey out west between now and 8 October.

Mike Denver and Nathan Carter got the festival off to a flying start last weekend when they performed in the marquee at the Lisdoonvarna GAA grounds. This weekend sees Lisa McHugh and her band on stage on Friday night, 8 September, with support by Barry Kirwan and band, while Derek Ryan and band headline the marquee dance on Saturday 9 September where support will be provided by the very popular Galway band, Blue Ridge.

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Last year saw the introduction of the big country music weekend at the start of the festival and, following the storming success of that venture, the organisers decided to add a second weekend this year.

“There is such a huge demand for country music in Ireland at the moment that we decided to go all out and double our event to include two big country music weekends,” said Marcus White, managing director of the White Hotel Group.

“Country music has brought a whole new young audience to the festival. It has rejuvenated the event and has been a massive success for Lisdoonvarna. It has really put us back on the map in a big way. There is no other event in Ireland that runs for five weeks and attracts over 80,000 people.

“Lisdoonvarna is growing in stature every year. We are a small village with a big festival and this is reflected by the amount of national and international interest we continue to attract.”

This year’s festival is jam-packed with entertainment, with music and dancing in all venues in the town from 11am in the morning to late. The traditional dance weekends in The Hydro and Imperial Hotels are on 15-16 September, 22-23 September and 29-30 September and feature ever-popular favourites who return by popular demand each year.

These include Teddy and Cathal Barry, Outa Diesel, Blue Ridge Country, The Moynihan Brothers, Eddie Carey, Midnight Run, Michael Sexton, PJ Murrihy, Pat Dowling, Damien and The Shakes, Just William and Michelle, and the Lisdoonvarna Showband.

The popular tea dances at the historic Spa Wells are back again this year between 12-2pm, with Larry McEvoy and his band performing daily.

Over at The Ritz they have Brendan Magee and Eugene Cunningham, Ger Long, Seán Brennan, Laurence Campion, Mike Condon and Richie Moloney doing shows throughout September.

Muriel O’Connor and Fran Curry are playing for the dances in the Royal Spa every Friday and Saturday night throughout the month. Sam O’Doherty has been a long-time favourite at Lisdoonvarna and the man from Bansha will be making regular appearances again this year.

Lisdoonvarna, celebrated in song several years ago by Christy Moore, still casts its spell and always holds special fascination for the media. This month sees RTÉ stepping it out in style with no less than three crews in town working on various shows.

Nationwide, one of their flagship programmes, visited the town in recent days to sample the atmosphere on the first weekend of the 2017 Matchmaking Festival.

Vogue Williams, model and presenter, will be in town filming a new series called Sugar Daddies on 9 September.

The popular Francis Brennan returns to Lisdoonvarna on Sunday 10 September to commence filming an episode for At Your Service, which has made him a countrywide celebrity. Francis will be based in the Spa Wells and is eagerly looking forward to getting into the mood of the famous Lisdoonvarna Festival. The place has been undergoing a revamp in recent months.

No doubt Francis Brennan will be in his element as he goes about meeting folks who know Lisdoonvarna inside out from their annual pilgrimages over the years. His shows are immensely popular and his easy style, humour and rapport with people makes him a firm favourite.

Then there is Willie Daly, Ireland’s most famous matchmaker and an institution at the festival each year. Willie is a dyed-in-the-wool Banner County man who has over five decades perfecting his chosen art.

Willie remains philosophical about the changes in Irish life and still finds plenty of demand for the service he has provided for more than 50 years and the wealth of knowledge established during that time. September is peak month for Willie who is very much at the heart of the celebrations.

The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is now in full swing and runs through until October 8. For more information, go to www.matchmakerireland.com.