Longford Easter fest see their best year yet

The Granard Easter Parade took place last weekend on Easter Sunday with multiple oranisations, clubs and businesses coming out in droves to march down Granard Main Street in their floats.

The Easter Festival took place on Sunday Morning until Sunday afternoon and saw hoards of people from across the county, the surrounding counties, and from further afield as many visitors are down to see family and friends during the Easter celebrations.

Fiona Macken is one of the organisers of the Granard Easter Festival and gave some insight into the inner workings of the beloved event.

“The most important message that we try to get across is that it’s a free family day.

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“Everything on the street, all the facepainting and bouncy castles it’s all free,” Fiona explained.

This year in particular was a resounding success much to the delight of committee members who saw a bigger turnout than ever before.

“There was a huge crowd of people. “It builds momentum every year,” said Fiona, “Even today people who were spectators in the crowds that they could hear other people that had never been before saying how amazing it was”

“People travelto visit their families for easter and really and truly their blown away by it.”

What sets the festival apart from other parades that may go on throughout the year is that there is so much activities available for all ages. Novelty floats are a massive part of the festival and are free to enter.

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“We never know until the day, we never know which floats are going to come, we don’t have an entry fee so it’s just a matter of who shows up on the day.”

And show up they did, local GAA clubs, schools, societies, and local organisations such as Knights and Conquests.

This year was one for the history books says Fiona.

“This parade was probably one of the biggest ones we’ve had, we had about 80 -100 floats and novelty floats like different community organisations.

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“They really kind of get their thinking caps on.”

The festival was only the closing event of Granard’s Easter celebration.

Fiona explained that Easter Saturday saw the community show up in droves for a challenging 5k walk as well.

“We have a fantastic committee that just come together and volunteer their time we all put our backs into it.

“We were out yesterday morning from 8 o’clock until the evening and kind of done a complete litter pick, left the town exactly as we found it and then we could sit back and relax.”

Fiona also would like to thank all those who were kind enough to sponsor and donate to the event.

“Were so thankful for all the people who make donations and sponsor different things for us.”