Vantastival

Vantastival will return to Beaulieu House & Gardens this weekend for its 10th anniversary festival! The festival has earned its reputation as a relaxed and friendly boutique festival with a diverse line up showcasing the best of up-and-coming Irish acts and providing a platform for new Irish music supported by IMRO. Vantastival’s organisers have curated a 2019 line up which celebrates 10 years of the music and campervan festival, bringing back some of the most popular acts to have played over the years. Festival favourites King Kong Company will headline the Saturday night, while Berlin-based Wallis Bird and Louth local David Keenan will also make a welcome return. Afro Celt Sound System, famous for blending European and West African traditional music, will headline Vantastival’s main stage on Sunday 2^nd June. Also on the bill for the June bank holiday weekender are Join Me in the Pines, Sharon Shannon, Thanks Brother, Cry Monster Cry, as well as Just Mustard, Roe, Pillow Queens and We Cut Corners, while Lisa O’Neill will make her Vantastival debut this year. The full line up can be found at www.vantastival.com/line-up-2019.

There’s also the usual huge array of activities and entertainment in addition to the music, including stand-up comedy, circus performers and even the Champions League final on the big screen, as well as the annual Cully & Sully Campervan Cook-off and a dog show! A new addition to this year’s festival is Generation Hour sponsored by Indaver, a series of talks and workshops on environmental and sustainability issues. Extinction Rebellion, Irish Marine Institute, Seal Rescue and Zero Waste Festival are among the groups represented. Vantastival is also introducing a number of actions to improve the sustainability of the event. These include mandatory use of compostable disposables by all traders, the introduction of composting toilets, offsetting of carbon emissions through the planting of native saplings on site at Beaulieu and a number of other environmental initiatives.

Vantastival is once again committing to its role as a community-spirited, family-friendly festival, and as ever, the programme of children’s events is extensive.  The kids’ area theme of “The Enchanted Garden” is designed to inspire imagination and creative play in young minds, with arts and crafts workshops, soccer skills, yoga and scavenger hunts among the activities planned.

Vantastival is driven by Firestone, the iconic tyre brand, and is the only Irish event to be part of Firestone’s European music activation, which takes place at music festivals across eight European countries every summer.

Online sales of festival tickets cease at 8am on the Friday morning of the festival. Cash sales for tickets will be available from the festival box office on Saturday and Sunday, but it’s first come, first served so if you don’t want to be disappointed, the remaining tickets can be snapped up online now.

Opening times

The car park opens for the festival at 1pm on Friday 31^st May, and the festival site is open from 2.30pm.  The car park opens at 10am Saturday and Sunday mornings, and the festival box office opens at 10.30am on Saturday and Sunday. Entry to the site is not permitted after 11pm.

Vantastival attracts an eclectic mix of van nuts and music fans from all over the country.  Campervans of all sorts are welcome and can park on site, right next to the arena, while tent campers are also welcome and about half of all visitors camp in tents. This is not exclusively a campervan event! Day tickets for both Saturday and Sunday are available as well as weekend camping tickets.

Tickets for Vantastival 2019 are on sale now from www.vantastival.com/tickets.

3-day camping – €130
2-day camping – €105
Saturday/Sunday single day tickets – €50
Sunday camping €60
booking fees apply
See www.vantastival.com for more details.

Sponsored by IMRO