Newry is going Nashville for a full weekend, starting on Independence Day, Friday 4th July right through to Sunday 6th July. There will be country music events and gigs right across the city centre in more than 20 different venues, all free to attend.
The idea, which is a joint initiative between the night time economy providers in Newry City and Newry BID (Business Improvement District), is aimed at driving footfall into the city centre, to see just how much there is to see and do both during the day and at night.
Eamonn Connolly, Newry BID Manager said:
“Country music is going through a bit of a revival particularly amongst younger people and we wanted to capitalise on this. We have free gigs in most of the bars across the city centre and we have family fun activities during the day.”
“Margaret Street and Buttercrane Shopping Centre are our two central activity locations. The Phoenix Bar is closing Margaret Street (weather permitting) and hosting a rodeo bull and outdoor seating on the street, while there is a host of family friendly activities in Buttercrane and other venues, including a vintage tractor display at Buttercrane on Sunday 6th July.”
“We are very proud to also host an inclusive event at Newry Library where people of all ages and abilities can get involved in the weekend.”
“The full line-up of events is available to view and book at Newry.com or follow us on Facebook for updates. We would like to thank our business community for coming together to trial this new and unique event for the city. We hope it is a tremendous success.”
Peter Murray, Chair of Newry BID added:
“We are delighted to come together with our members to put on this festival. It started with gigs in the bars, clubs and hotels across the city but we felt there was an opportunity to make it more of a family fun occasion by adding a daytime schedule.”
“We must particularly thank our bar owners and managers who along with the BID have put such effort into making this happen. We hope that if successful, it could become a regular feature in the Newry City calendar of events.”