Achill all set for Battle for the Lake festival

ACHILL is getting ready for a weekend of watersports and music with thousands of revellers expected to travel to the island for the annual Battle for the Lake festival.

Close to 5,000 people are expected to descend on Achill Island this weekend for Battle for the Lake water sport and music festival with legendary Dublin rock band, Hot House Flowers kicking off the festival this evening on the main stage at The Valley House.

This year there will be four stages on the grounds of The Valley House estate with over 30 musicians lined up to play on Friday and Saturday nights.

Supporting the Hot House Flowers this evening will be traditional Irish musician Cormac Begley along with local bands The Achill Sound and Achill 400 and much more.

On Saturday some of the world's best kitesurfers will take to Keel Lake where they will display some of their skills on the water as part of The Wow Show. Kitesurfers who will line up in the water include Stig Hoefnagel, Tom Court, Didier Botta, Sam Bull, Ross Harte, Eamon Armstrong and Timothy Kulesh who are regarded as some of the world's best kitesurfers.

There will also be windsurfing, stand up paddling, wingfoiling as well as live music along the lake shore and lots of free entertainment for children and adults from 11am until 5pm.

In recent years Achill has become one of the best destinations for kitesurfing and other watersports and this weekend weather conditions are expected to be perfect for competitors to show off their skills to the maximum.

On Saturday evening, urban brass band TBL8 Brass, Irish band Jiggy and Dublin-based electronic artist Apostle will be the main headliners in The Valley House with musicians on stage from 6.30pm.

As well as music on both nights there will be a fire show, food and artistic performances around the grounds of The Valley House to give festival goers an unforgettable experience.

Francois Colussi of Pure Magic who are organising the weekend's festivities said that Battle for the Lake is traditionally the last festival of the summer and is looking forward to welcoming people to Achill for the weekend.

“The expectation is high and for many people this is an annual pilgrimage to Achill Island. From the music side this is the best line up we ever had with the superstar band the Hot House Flowers coming to Achill for the first time. It is quite exciting,” he said.

For more information on Battle for the Lake visit the website www.battleforthelake.com.