The festival weekend kicked off with a very successful Inter Pub quiz taking place in most of the pubs in Ballyhaunis.  Answers to the questions were taken to an adjudicator for marking when each round was finished.  A great night of craic was had by all and it was down to the wire with a tie breaker question between the Hazel. Main Street and Phillips Bar, Main Street whereby Phillips came out the winner.  Phillips won the Perpetual Shield and a barrel of beer, The Hazel won two cases of beer and Gareth Delaney’s on Abbey Street won a case of beer. Another barrel of beer was up for grabs with a lucky dip; the winner of the barrel was Gills Pub on Clare Street who won the Shield for the last two years.  We would like to thank Western Beverages who sponsored the prizes for the pub quiz. 

There was also a very successful envelope fun draw taking place during the quiz run by the Scoil Íosa Parents Association.  The money collected will go towards the extension to the school.  A great thanks goes to all who supported the cause by buying the envelopes and all those taking part in the quiz.  Also a great thanks must go to the organising committee without whom the quiz could not take place and the local businesses who sponsored the wonderful spot prizes on the night.

The festival then went into sunshine time with the Party in the Park on Friday evening.  This was the first time the Party in the Park has taken place in Ballyhaunis and it was a great success.  Crowds gathered on the Friary fields to sit in the sunshine and listen to the live bands playing throughout the evening.  The entertainment consisted of SevenEven, Jack Wright, Spitfyre, Nevernudes, The Gizzards and Whiskey Dancers. The event was run by Elaine Donnelly and she would like to thank Enda Caulfield and Martin Fitzmaurice for their invaluable help throughout the evening.

On Saturday and Sunday Ballyhaunis was home to the Cinema North West Mobile Cinema which was situated behind the Enterprise Centre on Clare Street.  On Saturday there were three screenings, Yogi Bear, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid and The Green Hornet and on Sunday there was Toy Story 3, Clash Of The Titans and Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - Part 1.  There was a great attendance throughout the weekend and the plan is to have the cinema again next year.

Saturday morning was a busy day for the kids in Ballyhaunis with the Family Fun day.  The day kicked off in the Friary Fields with bouncy castles and bouncy slides, face painting and lots of sports displays including soccer, Camogie and a penalty shoot out.  This year we had a few extra fun things for the kids to enjoy including a Velcro wall and bungee run, which were both very popular with children of all ages.  Also new were the giant Jenga and giant connect-4.  At 4pm a fun cycle set off from the friary organised by Margie Phillips while Mary Kathleen provided music for the revellers in the Friary Fields.  There were also plenty of refreshments available throughout the afternoon with a catering van, candyfloss and popcorn and of course a children’s fun day wouldn’t be complete without an ice cream van.  There was a treasure hunt and Street art competition organised by the Foróige Club. The Street Art was a huge success with many children adding their artwork to the paths.  The winners of the street are are as follows: Junior – 1^st Annie McDonagh, 2^nd Sahar, 3^rd Hummr.  Middle – 1^st Niall Coffey, 2^nd Zain, 3^rd Ellie McDonagh.  Senior – 1^st Zozane, 2^nd Maeve Caulfield.

The treasure hunt was enjoyed by all taking part.

The family fun day is always a very popular part of the Ballyhaunis Festival and this year was no different with the friary fields packed with families enjoying the sunshine.

Throughout the weekend the Ballyhaunis Artist group Exhibition was held in the Friary, which drew in lots of people to see the wonderful artwork on display.

On Sunday morning Ballyhaunis was a hive of activity with the streets being cleared for the Traditional Craft Fair Day.  Stalls lined the streets with a vast array of arts and crafts.  There were demonstrators showing their skills including spinners, straw crafts, butter & Calais making, wood turning and much more. A new addition to the fair day was the Town Crier who brought a splash of colour to the event and walked round the town announcing the events going on.  At 1pm Mary Elwood’s School of Irish Dancing gave a great display on the stage in the Square followed by a very energetic display by the Zumba girls headed up by Janette Webb.  The Zumba was followed by the amazing highflying acrobatics of the Tuam All Star Gymnastics Team.  When the Tuam gymnasts finished Ramblin’ Bob took to the stage to entertain the crowds while Vintage Cars drove through the town and then parked in the Church car park.  A duck race took place in the river by the bridge.  1^st place in the duck race was Michael Frayne who won €100 and bought his ticket from Herrs Shop on Knox Street. Maureen Durken who got her ticket in the Oak Bar, Bridge Street, took 2nd prize of €60.  Sarah Feeney who also got her ticket in the Oak bar won 3rd prize of €40.

There was plenty to see and do on the day including animals on Clare Street and throughout the town, vintage machinery on Bridge Street, face painting on Main Street and another new addition to the festival was the puppet show in the courthouse grounds which was very popular with the children. 

There was a Show & Shine in the Dawn Meats car park on Clare Street which raised €200 for the Crumlin’s Children’s Hospital. Ballyhaunis Chamber would like to say Thank you to Noel Byrne for organising the event.

Ballyhaunis Chamber Of Commerce would like to thank Mayo North East Leader and Councillor John Cribbin for their amazing contributions towards the festival.  We would like to thank the sponsors, Ballyhaunis Plant Hire, Western Beverages, Pat Ryan, Eugene Carney, and Connaught Scaffolding.  The festival could not take place without the help of the volunteers, so a great thank you goes out to all who helped out in any way throughout the festival weekend, the bucket collectors, the bouncy castle monitors, the litter pickers, stewards, traffic controllers, the Ballyhaunis Guards, there were so many volunteers they cannot all be named but a huge thanks goes out to all who helped. We would also like to thank the sporting groups who took part in the family day.

In conjunction with the Ballyhaunis Summer Festival a window display competition took place with a huge amount of interest.  Ballyhaunis was a very colourful place over the Bank holiday weekend with banners, flags, stalls and almost every shop window was adorned with displays to catch the eye.  The theme for this year’s competition was ‘Mascots of the world’ and Ballyhaunis did a great job coming up with some brilliant displays.  So many different countries were represented throughout Ballyhaunis and it was extremely hard to pick winners.  There were three categories, Retail, Non-Retail and Pubs.  The winners were: Retail category; 1^st – Webbs Butchers, Main Street, 2^nd – The Ribbon, Main Street, 3^rd – Curley’s Pharmacy.  Also in this category Nour Foods on Abbey Street was highly commended for their display.  In the Non-Retail category; 1^st – The Credit Union, Clare Street, 2^nd – Allied Irish Bank, Bridge Street, 3^rd – Ulster Bank, Bridge Street.  In the pubs category; 1^st – Val’s Bar & Restaurant, Main Street, 2^nd – Gills Bar, Clare Street, 3^rd – The Hazel Bar & Restaurant.  A huge well done and thank you goes to all of those who participated in the competition with their displays, which get better each year and we hope to continue the competition again next year with their support.  Ballyhaunis Chamber would like to thank Pamela Flanagan from Westport Tidy Towns for being so gracious in giving her time in judging the window displays.