CORK IS preparing for almost a month of music and mayhem with both the Live in the Marquee series and the Cork Mid-Summer Festival expected to attract almost 100,000 people to the city.
Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions said ticket sales for this year’s Live in the Marquee series of 15 concerts are expected to hit 68,000 with headliners such as Bob Dylan, Elton John, Paul Simon and Tom Jones all selling out.
Among the Irish acts likely to draw large attendances are The Frames, who open the series tonight, Christy Moore, Bell X1, Westlife, Imelda May and Jedward, who will be playing the Marquee for the first time, while others making their debut in Cork include Ryan Adams and Fleet Foxes.
Up to 30,000 people are expected to attend events in the Cork Midsummer Festival which also kicks off this weekend with the Street Performance World Championship which takes place in Fitzgerald’s Park today and tomorrow.
Monday will see Fitzgerald Park transformed into an open-air cinema for a screening of Puccini's opera Tosca, which will be broadcast live from Valencia in Spain as part of a Europe-wide link-up between some 60 cities.
Music also features in the Cork Midsummer Festival with the Murphy’s Spiegeltent popping up at the Beamish and Crawford site on South Main Street where it will host shows by Camille O’Sullivan, Cathy Davey, Jape and Mick Flannery.
Macnas are also coming to Cork. Their outdoor procession, Rumpus, will be invading the city centre after dark on June 18th, while the Guinean Cirque Mandingue are bringing their acrobatics show, Foté Foré, to Cork Opera House.
Among the many theatrical events lined up for this year's festival is Corcadorca's play Request, starring Eileen Walsh. It takes place in Ireland's tallest building, the Elysian.
Hammergrin Theatre Company will present their vision of suburbia seen through the eyes of a boy in Latch.
