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Riverfest Limerick wins top prize at Event Industry Awards 2019

Pictured are Keelan Lynch, Grooveyard Event Management Company, Kelly Moran, Limerick City and County Council, Evelyn Noonan, Limerick City and County Council, Lyndsey Hall, Piquant Media, Denis Tierney, Limerick City and County Council, Laura Ryan, Sheila Deegan, Oonagh KirbyLimerick City and County Council, Sylwia Baltaza and James Gavin, Grooveyard Event Management Company with members of the Hit Machine Drummers. Picture: Alan Place.

Riverfest Limerick wins top prize at Event Industry Awards 2019

Riverfest, Limerick’s biggest festival, has won the top prize being named the ‘Best Event’ at this year’s Event Industry Awards 2019.

Riverfest, which broke records in 2019 with more than 120,000 people enjoying Ireland’s premier May Bank Holiday festival, beat off competition from festivals and other events across the country including Pope Francis’s Visit to Ireland, New Year’s Eve Festival in Dublin and Seafest to win the awards.


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The Event Industry Awards 2019 celebrated excellence and showcased the very highest standards in Ireland’s event industry.

The 11th annual ceremony took place recently at Citywest Hotel in Dublin, where Riverfest Limerick won ‘Best Live Event’ and then won the overall prize of ‘Best Event’.

Pictured are Laura Ryan, Limerick City and County Council and James Gavin, Grooveyard Event Management Company. Picture: Alan Place.

This awards ceremony recognises the varied nature of live events in Ireland and stand-out categories include Best Live Event, Best Event Team, Best Awards Ceremony and Best In-House Event Team.

Overall, 27 awards were presented on the night, with a judging panel consisting of three coordinators and 16 industry professionals and peer experts who have national and international experience of organising events.

Riverfest Limerick was entered into the awards by Grooveyard, which, the event manages the festival on behalf of Limerick City and County Council.

Welcoming the accolades Sheila Deegan, Culture & Arts Officer with Limerick City and County Council said: “The increased investment by the elected members has ensured the development of Riverfest into a national event of scale.  In 2019 the footprint of the festival extended from Limerick Docks to King John’s Castle and the presence of locally-based but internationally known Fidget Feet gave a real spectacle feeling to this year’s event.”

James Gavin, Managing Director of Grooveyard said: “It’s an amazing accolade to achieve, both for Riverfest and for Limerick, especially with such tough competition from some of the country’s major events over the past 12 months in winning Best Live Event, but then to go on and be named the Best Event overall was really great.  It was a huge achievement and a huge team effort, from the various departments in Limerick City and County Council – Culture & Arts, Marketing & Communications, Operations & Maintenance, along with Grooveyard, the other stakeholders.  Riverfest Limerick has grown to become a must-see and must-visit festival and let’s hope we can continue to grow the festival for Limerick.”

Lyndsey Hall, Social Media Manager with Piquant Media, who was in charge of the social media output throughout the Riverfest Limerick weekend added: “We were so delighted to be involved in Riverfest.  Planning for it was a little injection of summer, through those dark winter days.  It was so much fun to be involved and I’m so delighted for Limerick that it won the best event at the awards.”

Riverfest Limerick will return from the 1 – 4 May 2020.

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.