Marty Party takes flight!
Last year he took his inaugural Marty Party on the road all over Ireland – but this time broadcaster Marty Morrissey is taking them out of the country! Because the Clare man is leading a posse of household names on a week of music and sunshine to the Costa del Sol later in the year.
There’s a strong Galway input into the all-star line-up with Mary Coughlan, Sharon Shannon and the Galway Tenors among the acts travelling for the week-long trip from October 1 to 8.
Also on the flight will be Tommy Fleming, Eurovision winner Paul Harrington, Geroge Murphy and Donegal super-trad outfit Onóir, who went down a storm in Leisureland when the Marty roadshow stopped off there at the end of March last year.
Last weekend he was in Galway on the ‘day job’ – commentating for RTÉ on Galway’s Leinster Hurling Championship draw with Kilkenny – but he’s also genuinely excited by a concept that he admits he wasn’t entirely sure about in the first instance.
“Deirdre Grant and Sean Skehan from Killester Travel were at the Marty Party in Letterkenny – and they loved the concept, they loved the fun, and they asked me to go abroad with it,” he says.
“It wasn’t on my agenda – I didn’t even know how you’d do it. But they kept coming back to persuade me and eventually I reckoned ‘you know what; life is for living’ and I love the music and the dancing. I can’t either sing or dance but I still enjoy the craic, and people seem to really enjoy the fun.”
The formula will be the same as the original Marty Party – a diverse line-up, loads of chat, audience participation, giveaways – but this time there’s sea and sun thrown in, as well as a hatful of top-class headline acts.
Marty describes it as ‘a bit of Michael McIntyre, a big of Ant and Dec, a bit of the Late Late Show’ – but ultimately just people enjoying themselves.
He has handpicked the singers and entertainers himself; every night there’s a full variety show but each night has a special guest performing for 45 minutes or so – Sharon Shannon, Tommy Flemming, Paul Harrington, George Murphy, Mary Coughlan – and loads more from different genres of music, so there’s something there every night for everybody.
Guests will be based at the Holiday World Polynesia Hotel in Benalmadena, which is also the venue for the nightly entertainment as well as the afternoon music and dancing poolside.
The price of around €1,300 includes return flights to Malaga; airport transfers, seven nights’ accommodation with breakfast and dinner each day; afternoon entertainment – and the nightly big gigs on six of the seven evenings with Marty himself MC’ing throughout.
He’ll be joined by Bernard O’Shea and Noel Cunningham, who are sharing the co-hosting with the man himself – and he’s adding new acts all the time. This week, accordionist Liam O’Connor and Lisa Lambe from Celtic Women have joined the bill, and he’s looking at putting on dance classes in the afternoon.
Fans of Dancing with the Stars won’t be surprised that he won’t be teaching the classes himself!
It’s all been formally approved by RTÉ, and it’s timed to have minimal impact on his sports duties; the All-Irelands will be well over and, as he says, the start of October here is also the start of the winter nights – so it’s a great time to go for a holiday.
“You get flights, collections; bed, breakfast and dinner and you’ll get entertained by some of the best entertainers in Ireland – and you leave with a smile on your face. We’ll have prizes and giveaways and all of the elements we had with the Marty Party at home,” he says.
You can also fly from any airport in Ireland – Dublin, Shannon, Knock, Cork, Belfast – all organized by Killester Travel. For further information, see www.killestertravel.com.
Pictured: Marty Morrissey...taking to the air.