The Groove Tube: Galway festival organisers aim to keep Momentum up
Momentum festival descends on Oranmore for the first time this May Bank Holiday weekend, with a broad church of artists performing over four days at the Ard na Mara pitches.
Spearheaded by publican-restaurateurs and founders of BC Ventures Cian Burke and Trevor Cullinane, the lineup features established Irish acts The Stunning (May 1) and The Coronas (May 3), as well as buzzy, younger bands Cliffords and Madra Salach (May 4).
The Saturday bill, on May 2, is handed over to The Big Day Out, a nostalgic celebration of 90s and noughties pop music, which in recent years has produced highly successful, annual shows at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Oranmore will host Sonique, Bewitched, Mark McCabe, Rednex and D:Ream. A best dressed competition is set to award €1,000 to the sharpest attendee.
“There’s a really good, dynamic community here and a very active community as well,” says Olivia Breene, the festival’s commercial director. “On a Friday, Saturday, Sunday night, we have really good music.”
Breene ran a ‘Win a Home’ competition for the local football club in Oranmore last October, which did well and drew the attention of Burke and Cullinane. She was brought in to help with the marketing component of Momentum, but her involvement grew as time went on.
“I’ve been looking at the commercials across everything from building the brand, the tone of voice, really understanding what the lads want to achieve and understanding what the music industry, I suppose, needs as well, and how that can benefit Oranmore.
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“This will have an impact on business of approximately €3.5 million over the four days, and that’s a very conservative figure. It’s across everything.
" As it stands at the moment, 58 per cent of the tickets have actually been sold outside of Galway, so that means that people are going to be travelling in, staying in hotels, eating, drinking and visiting shops.”
Around 75,000 people live in a catchment area within six miles of Oranmore, Breene says, and Momentum’s 4,200 capacity Crescendo tent aims to provide for all of them.
The demographic between 35 and 55 has grown exponentially since Covid, which was part of the inspiration for a weekend event of this scope.
In Ard na Mara, Momentum has positioned itself in the heart of Oranmore, bringing attendees from other parts of the country right into the village and hoping to really integrate the festival.
“There’s something quite beautiful about it,” Breene says.
“I think that’s what makes this festival very unique. We could’ve chosen to have this out the road or to pick a field two or three miles outside [of Oranmore]. But really around the brand everything that’s been built, it is in the heart of the village. It’s an important component for the community as it is for us.”
Breene says booking those younger, current bands is a risk for Burke and Cullinane, but one that solidifies Momentum’s appeal to an eclectic mix of gig-goers.
Monday’s bill features three of the buzziest live acts in the country and a departure from the more established staples headlining the rest of the weekend.
“We have our Galway-loved bands The Stunning and The Coronas. We’re putting on the Big Day Out – its first time in the west here in Galway. We’re bringing international bands into a small village, which is really something special.
“Then for me, the Monday is an amazing day to be able to say that in our first year, we have three of the most dynamic acts on the island of Ireland at the moment – The Scratch, Cliffords and Madra Salach here in Oranmore is absolutely phenomenal.
We’ve really been ambitious and tried to please all the different audiences that are within our catchment area.
"We’ve really been ambitious and tried to please all the different audiences that are within our catchment area.”
Experienced event managers Frank Cummins and Frank McDaid are covering logistics for the site, and have been liaising with public transport services to provide additional routes over the weekend to and from Galway City.
An update on ticket sales will be provided in the days leading up to the festival to plan for the exact number of extra public buses that will be required, and private, chartered coaches will also be operating. They may be organising some extra commuter trains.
Parking spaces for over 2,500 cars will also be available. As an Oranmore resident, Breene knows that the village “at the best of times can be a bottleneck” and says there will be some temporary road closures to facilitate Momentum. An “intense traffic management plan” has been compiled.
Still, the most valuable work has been done on the lineup. Breene is quick to point out that, as well as securing major names to headline, the team has spent a lot of time curating the programme of support acts.
The Riptide Movement, celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band, are supporting The Stunning on Friday night alongside Galway favourite Tracy Bruen and her band. On Sunday, a long list of support acts accompany The Coronas, with Oscar Blue, Calum Agnew, Groev and Talllon all setting the mood.
Breene says the lineup was created “with a lot of intent to make sure that we are supporting local and up-and-coming artists as well.”
“A core value of ours as a team is that we’re giving a space to up-and-coming Irish acts to be able to share the stage with some of the best acts within the industry,” she says.
Organisers hope this is the first year of many for Momentum.