THE Lenadoon Féile – which took place in the first week of August – has been hailed as a huge success by organisers.
The opening event was the Family Fun Day in Lenadoon Community Park and hundreds of local children and families enjoyed the bouncy castles, playbus, face-painting, dancing, music and games. A local comedy night took place that evening in the Donegal Celtic.
The following day the Focus Club organised a carnival morning for adults with learning difficulties and everyone had a great time.
The bilingual tour of Milltown Cemetery saw over 40 people enjoy a tour of over two hours listening to the stories at gravestones of political, historical and sporting figures by passionate and informative tour guide Sean Fennell. That evening Naomh Pól GAC was the venue for an enjoyable and insightful talk by former GAA county players Nodlaig Ni Bhrollaigh (Derry) and Colm McAlarney (Down).
On the Wednesday, Lenadoon Women's Group hosted a well attended Health Information Morning in the Glen Community Complex and Carrigart Youth and Community Group organised a Tea Dance for local seniors in the Glen Community Centre who enjoyed the music, food, dancing and ballots.
Following an informative historical tour of the area by Pádraic Mac Coitir, a great Traditional Music Seisuin took place in Sarsfields GAC. That evening Donegal Celtic Club hosted a Darts Competition. The following morning large crowds attended the Community Health and ECO event in the Half Moon Lake where they not only received information and had tests carried out but they enjoyed healthy fruit bowls provided by Glen Parent /Youth Group.
That evening the Donegal Celtic Club hosted a Quiz Night. The Lenadoon Féile concluded with an informative and emotional Talk and Question and Answer session in Sarsfield's about the ending of political status. Former republican political prisoners Tommy McKearney, Máire Drumm and Pádraic Mac Coitir addressed the large crowd.
Michael Doherty said: "The first week in August witnessed the best Lenadoon Féile in years. We were delighted by the positive feedback from the participants and visitors.
"There was a 20 per cent increase on the number of events than previous years. All the events were free of charge and plans are now afoot to make Lenadoon Féile 2027 even bigger."
