LAST weekend Gaoth Dobhair welcomed many massive international musicians for another successful Sult Music Festival.
But the real stars of the show never took to the stage or stood in the spotlight.
Instead the over 80 volunteers worked tirelessly together behind the scenes to make sure the show went on.
After a fantastic opening on Friday, volunteers stayed on site until sunrise on Saturday morning preparing for another jam packed night. When they finally went home to get a few hours of well-deserved rest, the weather decided to do some redecorating. Strong gusts of wind tore through the site damaging the main tent and bar.
The large pins holding the tent were ripped from the ground and smashed through the skylights of a campervan that someone had generously loaned the festival committee. Local businesses such as Martin Boyle Haulage Company had provided a lorry and Donegal Shores had provided a van to use for the weekend, these were both also badly damaged.
The organising committee put a plea out on social media and the community quickly rallied together to repair the festival site.
Anne Blair from the festival’s organising committee said the community’s response was amazing.
“Even when he had a mini disaster on Saturday morning when the wind whipped up the tents, it was nearly worth it to see the way people pitched in,” she said.
Anne was gushing with gratitude as she recalled how all of the volunteers responded so quickly to the crisis. The volunteers landed in their masses to come together to help clean up the mess and repair the festival tent.
As the first bus full of festival goers pulled into the car park on Saturday afternoon Anne and another member of the organising committee, Mary Coyle, were both standing on ladders with paintbrushes in their hands adding the finishing touches
to the reconstructed bar, she laughed.
People came from near and far to lend a helping hand – there was one large group of people visiting for a wedding who all came down and helped, and another family visiting the area from Glasgow who volunteered to run the merchandise stall.
Once the music had ended and the crowds had gone, people continued to turn up to help out, Anne explained.
“Even on the Sunday when we were cleaning up people who were going by for a wee drive or going to the graveyard were parking up, coming in and picking up a black bag and a litter picker.”
The community-based festival is not just about the music, it is about coming together to make a positive impact. They raise funds for local charities and causes making a difference in the community.
This year the recipients included The Bumbleance, a fundraiser for local boy Oisín Campbell and a fundraiser for the three Donegal men representing the country in the
first-ever Down Syndrome Futsal team.
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