Mayo Day set to be 'biggest ever' for tenth year

Mayo Day 2024 is set to be bigger than ever for its tenth anniversary.

The annual celebration will take place in Belmullet this year to coincide with the 200 years of Belmullet celebrations.

Speaking at a  Corporate, Education, Culture, Heritage and Library Services committee meeting yesterday, senior executive officer of Mayo County Council, Martina Hughes, said it’s ‘hard to believe’ the festival is in its tenth year.

She said different changes have managed to keep the event ‘going and growing’ each year.

Ms Hughes said the event is a very positive initiative that has really brought together ‘pride of place and that sense of loyalty to who you are and where you come from’.

“Without the people of Mayo, at home and abroad, Mayo Day would not have grown to what it has been,” said Ms Hughes.

The flagship event is set to be unique this year, but not too dissimilar to last year's Ballina 300 event.

A large stage will be erected in the heart of the town, with plenty of activities, events, food and craft villages located around the area.

Ms Hughes also explained that organisers are trying to bring in the theme of Belmullet being a coastal, marina town, in order to bring ‘something additional to it, there’s a lot of work going on in the background on that’.

Councillor Gerry Coyle called Belmullet a ‘unique’ location. 

“Lots of people, even from Mayo, have never been to Belmullet. You won’t go unless there’s a reason,” he said.

“People are welcome to Belmullet not just on Mayo Day, but any day” he added.

According to Ms Hughes, the aim of the day is to ‘showcase the best Mayo has to offer’.

“The event has had huge benefits, it has elevated the county as a creative and cultural tool, and elevated the festival offerings,” she said,

“Most importantly, this is what we set out to do, is to connect with Mayo people around the world,” added Ms Hughes.

It was also explained that the ‘big thing that kept coming back’ to the committee upon organising the event was the aim to connect Mayo natives across the globe. 

This year, there will be an International Mayo Day event taking place in Chicago.

“The Mayo day message is more about the profile of the county, so taking Mayo Day to another location was very important to us,” said Ms Hughes.

Organisers travelled to the Windy City late last year, with Fáilte Ireland, to launch their plans.

“It was a great opportunity to get discussions going in Chicago and get a working group going,” she said. 

There is ‘ a lot of work’ going on across the Atlantic in order to organise this event. 

The small working group in Chicago, including Ruth Cawley, Seamus Kavanagh, Alan and Henry Coyle, were called ‘outstanding’ at yesterday’s SPC meeting.

“They are doing phenomenal work in terms of connecting us with who we need to be in touch with, together with a group in Gaelic Park,” said Ms Hughes.

There will be an enterprise event in Chicago on Friday, May 3, where different high profile speakers will share why Mayo is a great location to do business.

The May 4 events will be much bigger, and similar to that in Belmullet. It will be staged in Gaelic Park, showcasing all things Mayo.

Ms Hughes told the committee: “It really is shaping up to be something very special in Chicago, there's great interest, and the feedback is very positive."

Mayo Day is set to ‘be the biggest’ of its kind, and will kick off the Home to Mayo festival.

In Autumn 2023 Fáilte Ireland confirmed that Mayo County Council were joint winners of the Global Irish Festival Fund.

The funding application was for Home to Mayo, a month of activities and events throughout the county to encourage the diaspora to come home and visit Mayo.

Mayo Day on May 4 will kick off the Home to Mayo festival, which will sweep the county through the month.

Home to Mayo is ‘important’ for all communities as it is an ‘opportunity for them to host new and existing events throughout the month of may’. 

Ms Hughes acknowledged that gaining funds can be an ‘obstacle’ for event organisers, but urged that funding from the council is available and applications are open.

Chairman of the committee, Cllr Michael Burke, said the events will be ‘very positive’ for Mayo, ‘at home and abroad’.