Picture Special: Letterkenny buzzing with talent at annual Busking Fest

A wonderful day was enjoyed by all in Letterkenny on Saturday August 17th as buskers, locals and visitors, took to the Main Street to enjoy the 2024 Letterkenny Busking Festival.

The festival welcomed live performances from established and up and coming acts. There were soloists, duos, bands, singers, bagpipes, ukeleles and more. There was something for everyone!

It was a jam-packed afternoon with competitors performing for the judging panel, from 1.30pm to 3pm. We had buskers in as many places as possible along the Main Street and their performed a wide repertoire of music.

Local performer Joe Gibson also performed at the prizegiving in Blakes Bar where all the performers and their families gathered to get the much anticipated results.

The awards were presented by Letterkenny Chamber President, Claire McDonough. Tessio, a duo from Derry won the top prize, second place went to Clann Breathnach, a trad family group and a close third was NoVendors, a band all the way from Cavan.

As well as the top prizes the runners up were: singer & guitarist Tori Gilpin, Letterkenny Ukulele Orchestra, singer Jessica McKean and duo Proton Pool Party.

Trudi O’Donnell spoke on behalf of the Judges, that also included Martin Orr and Paul McDevitt, about the variety of talent witnessed at the busking festival this year! “We were delighted to see the great variety of buskers taking part in the competition. This year we have seen the return of quite a few who regularly come to the festival and it is amazing to see how they have developed over a number of years. This year it was a particularly hard task to pick our final winners. Performing is the life blood of any aspiring musician, this festival gives everyone the chance to perform live and try out their repetoire. We had a brilliant day out and enjoyed every one of the performances.”

Letterkenny Chamber President, Claire McDonough was delighted with how the festival was received “It was fantastic to see people travelling from all over Donegal and from further afield to be part of the festival, there was a great buzz in Letterkenny Main Street throughout the afternoon. We had a great time meeting all the performers and were delighted with the variety of genres and amazing talent on show.”

“On behalf of the Letterkenny Chamber, we would like to thank the festival team, headed up by Jimmy Stafford, the judges who had a very hard job today and especially the participants, who gave their all to make this a great day.”

The annual Letterkenny Busking Festival is funded through the Retail Promotion initiative from Donegal County Council.

Check out all the action in the photos below: 

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