Covid-19: Stendhal Festival to welcome back music lovers

The first music festival to be held in Northern Ireland since the Covid-19 pandemic began on Friday.

Stendhal Festival, which is based in Limavady, County Londonderry, welcomes back fewer numbers than previous years.

The festival attracted a 10,000-strong crowd in 2019, but this year about 2,500 visitors are expected.

It follows Stormont's announcement that live music in Northern Ireland could resume from 5 July, as part of further relaxations to Covid-19 rules.

While music performed indoors is restricted to an "ambient sound level" with screens placed in front of musicians, no volume restrictions apply to live music at outdoor events.

Stendhal Festival was established in 2011 and has grown into one of the biggest music and arts events in Northern Ireland.

Director Ross Parkhill said the festival going ahead is a "first step on the ladder back to normality".

"There are a number of new protocols around social distancing that we have to implement and manage, and we want to ensure that we get that spot on.

"Social distancing will be required, masks outdoors are optional but recommended, while masks in any indoor spaces will remain mandatory.

"We must ensure that campers remain in their bubbles in the campsites at all times and that people do not enter other bubble's tents."

Mr Parkhill said that although it may not be the biggest festival they have ever run, it is certainly one of the most important.

Éilish Kelly has been a regular to the north west festival since its inception in 2011.

She, like many others, has been counting down the days until she can step foot on to Ballymully Cottage Farm once again.

"I am so excited to get my wellies on and get back to Stendhal Festival this year," Ms Kelly told BBC Radio Foyle.

"It's absolutely my happy place it's just so, so, special and it's a place where the creatives, the artists and the musicians, can just thrive.

"To see something like this finally come to fruition after the year and a half that we've had with [Covid-19] restrictions, I think this, the tenth anniversary of Stendhal, will be very special. I can't wait."

Ms Kelly said she is especially looking forward to visiting the Stevie Martin stage once again.

The late Stevie Martin was a musician known as Rainy Boy Sleep who died in 2016.

Ms Kelly, who was a close friend of the County Donegal musician, said it's always "very poignant to see bands play on a stage named after him".

Charlene Hegarty, who works in the music industry, has said she will struggle to hold back the tears when she witnesses a live music act take to the stage for the first time in almost 17 months.

Ms Hegarty, along with her two sons and her mother, are looking forward to attending the festival together as a family.

"The idea of being able to go to Stendhal with my two sons, who are now almost 18 months old, their granny as well, I am just so excited," Ms Hegarty explained.

"Three generations are going to be out in full force," she added.

Ms Hegarty said she cannot wait for her two sons to "experience a whole new world" at the festival and "just be drenched in music".