Temple House Festival: 10th - 12th June

Coming back for its second year this June, the Temple House Festival held in the grounds of the Temple House Estate, Ballymote, Co Sligo, has announced a rocking great line-up for this year’s 4 stages of fun.

Ash, Lisa Hannigan, Whipping Boy and Riptide Movement were some of the names announced last week to join the already stellar offering of Declan O’Rourke, Something Happens, Andrew Strong, The Walls, Heathers, Miracle Bell, Oddsocks Revival and Culch.ie favourites Bipolar Empire.

We were lucky enough to be treated to a preview of the 3-day festival’s offering during the Temple House press day which featured a tour of the grounds and live sets by Oddsocks Revival and Bipolar Empire and maybe it was the blistering heat on the day, the magical feeling of the place (it includes a lake and the ruins of a Knights Templar castle) or the genuine love for the festival shown by hands-on Temple House owner Roderick Percival, but we can’t wait for June to roll around.

With 100 acts performing across 4 stages and an exciting line-up of artsy offerings such as a Mad Hatters Tea Party area in the woods, archery, and the Walled Garden hosting activities for the under-12s (if you’re a paying adult, you can bring up to two U12′s for free) Temple House offers something a bit different and has a prime position at the start of the summer festival calendar.

What we liked about the place, great weather and gorgeous grounds aside, was the hands-on approach of the organisers. Touring the festival site, the camping areas and traffic plans were highlighted to us, with improvements from last year often taking their lead from Facebook feedback - the family camping area is now closer to the car park; internal paths have been widened for safety and Temple House are highlighting sustainability at every turn because as far as they’re concerned Sligo’s signature weekend is here to stay.

If Electric Picnic is a boutique music festival then Temple House is that funky new label all the cool kids are wearing that can only be found at some hip car boot sale stall. And while we’re chatting kids, aside from those free U12s, it’s an over 18′s event so there won’t be any plastered teenagers ruining the fairytale ambiance and the chilled out buzz. Weekend tickets are €99, yes you can get day tickets, and all the official info is over here.