Why Not Live The Craggy Island Dream: TedFest Is Back!!

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It has been confirmed that the event celebrating all things Father Ted, Ted Fest will be returning to Inis Mór between 3 and 6 March this year.

The event had been cancelled last year due to the pandemic, but thankfully it has been given the green light. 

Since 2007, Father Ted fans have flocked to the Aran Islands hotel for an event, where they can re-enact scenes from the show. 

This idea was conjured up by Galway native Fergal McGrath and Cardiff man Peter Phillips. The pair first thought of the idea when they met while working for a charity in aid of the Tsunami of Christmas 2004. 

"I set up a charity to raise funds following the disaster and we helped fund various relief projects over in Sri Lanka. When the charity was being wound up, we were told there was £20,000 left over", Peter explained. 

He continued, "So rather than wire that amount of money, I decided to travel to Sri Lanka myself to see what we could do with the leftover money and I invited along a film crew from SC4, Channel 4's Welsh channel"..

"Fergal was a film editor with the crew, and we ended up spending a lot of time together drinking warm beer, doing Elvis impressions, and talking about Father Ted".

300 fans of the show are expected to arrive on the island. 

"That’s as many as the island can hold," said Peter. 

"We’re kind of first out and first back when it comes to festivals this year". 

"It’s been a weird two years. We were all set to go at the end of 2020 to have a TedFest in 2021 but that just wasn’t possible, so fingers crossed for this year. We’ve been running around like headless chickens for the past few months". 

"ant-TV convention"

On top of this, Peter and Fergal also emphasised just what they did not want this event to become. 

"We’re the anti-TV convention festival", Peter said. "We never wanted TedFest to be like of those events held in a big function room where fans pay five quid for an autograph and a picture with someone who appeared in the second episode of the fifth season".

"The beauty of TedFest is that it’s small. We just want people to live the Craggy Island dream". 

Peter has even revealed that they have never ask a Father Ted cast member to attend the annual event.

"I ran into Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Dougal) a few years ago and he said `don’t invite me out to that bloody island!’", he revealed. "Joe Rooney, who played Father Damo, has been out a few times and he likes to referee the Craggy Cup football match. He calls the teams Blur and Oasis". 

The undoubted star attraction of this year's event is the original caravan which saw Father Noel Furlong (Graham Norton) lead a group of traumatised youngsters for a Riverdancing session. 

"The caravan is now a death trap," Peter joked. "Everyone who goes into it just has to Riverdance so it’s pretty wrecked". 

This year's event will also see Patrick McDonnell return. McDonnell of course made a guest appearance as Eoin McLove on the show. 

Peter has also confirmed that fun events like Craggy Island's Fittest Family, Matchmaking with Nellie, the Lovely Girls Competition, The Pan Asian Zen Off, the Father Ted Prizeless Quiz, the Craggy Cup and Ted's Got Talent will all be back. 

Trad for Trócaire were also announced as the official music guests for this four day event Ted Fest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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