WORK is continuing at pace and excitement is building as the Falls Park gets set to host three major concerts over three days this weekend as part of Féile an Phobail.
The Andersonstown News visited the huge concert arena this week to check in on progress ahead of Friday night's first event – The Over 30s Club.
The music continues on Saturday with the Féile Country Night, featuring Nathan Carter and the Whistlin' Donkeys.
On Sunday, the Falls Park will host a new free concert – 'Feile Rocks', featuring a number of well-known tribute acts to bands such as Oasis, Stone Roses and Creedance Clearwater.
With a huge stage to build as well as the longest bar in Ireland and multiple food vendors to set up, it is a busy few days ahead for the team at Falls Park.
Erecting the huge stage
Kevin Gamble, Director of Féile an Phobail said: "Things are shaping up pretty well. Once you see the infrastructure going on site, the flags and bunting up, the programmes out. We have had a couple of events on so far but this is a big weekend coming up.
"The excitement is building, the buzz is building and we can't wait to get started. The first big event in the Falls Park here for us is this Friday with a new event – The Over 30s night.
"It seems to be very popular right across the island these days, so we're really looking forward to big crowd coming this Friday.
"And then we have the Country Night on the Saturday back in the Falls Park, by popular demand, which was probably the biggest event we had last year.
Lauren Slane, Féile an Phobail board member, with her niece Croia Slane at the Falls Park concert arena as work progresses ahead of this week’s concerts
"All the singers who performed last year on the stage had asked to come back straight away. Nathan Carter in particular came off stage after performing last year and asked to come back this year.
"We are expecting crowds coming from all over the island for this this weekend.
"It's great to have such a venue like the Falls Park. You know you are in the heart of West Belfast. It is the jewell in the crown in this part of the city. It is used 365 days of the year.
"It is a credit to the staff and everyone involved in setting it up for the concerts. The place will look impeccable and we look forward to welcoming hundreds of thousands of people to the park, not just for the concerts.
The bar is well stocked up
"We have family events, community events, sporting events here too. We've all sorts of activity happening in the Falls Park and right across the city with over 700 events in 50 different venues, and we're expecting around 100,000 people to come to the Féile this year.
"We have five big headline concerts this year and tickets are selling very well. Tickets are still from www.ticketmaster.ie, so get yours now and don't miss out.
"We pride ourselves on making sure the experience we give customers is second to none, and that's the feedback we get year on year.
"We make little improvements to the park every year. There's plenty of vendors, plenty of toilets and a massive bar.
"It is a proud time to be from West Belfast when you see hundreds of thousands of people walking across this part of the city enjoying themselves, seeing what we as a community are all about and coming back year on year because of the experience and the good time that they've had."
