Forfey Festival

Forfey Festival was an annual music festival held on Forfey Farm near Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The festival was last held in 2014[1]. Each year's memorabilia (posters, flyers, social media and merchandise) featured a different animal as its theme, predominantly drawn by Neil Gillespie. 2014 was subtitled "Anno Rex", in memory of the farm's sole permanent resident, Rex.

Forfey Festival
Genre	Folk, rock, pop
Dates	Vary
Location(s)	Forfey Farm Lisnaskea County Fermanagh Northern Ireland
Years active	2006–2014
Founded by	Matt Minford
Website	forfeyfestival.co.uk

History

Forfey Festival was founded in 2006 by Matt Minford, bassist and vocalist of SixStarHotel.[2] His family (still) own Forfey Farm, and for a number of years it had lain largely unused.[3] For the first two years of the festival's existence, Minford was unable to obtain an entertainments licence for the farm, and so musical performances were held at other locations in Fermanagh, while the farm hosted arts exhibitions and camping. From 2008, the whole festival was held on Forfey Farm.[3]

Location

Forfey was held on a small family farm. While the festival was in progress, one field hosted camping and one field, car parking. Music venues included three sheds (known as the Hayshed, Lie-To, and The Pit) and a cottage attic (known as "The 1951"). Various outbuildings hosted mixed-media visual art exhibitions and film screenings.[4]

Lineups

Forfey Festival featured artists/bands

Year	Dates	Location	Artists / Bands
2006[5]	24–26 August	Enniskillen	Foy Vance Sixstarhotel	Mojo Fury	We Are Knives Heeltap
2007[6]	2–5 August	Enniskillen
2008[7]	8–10 August	Forfey Farm	And So I Watch You From Afar The Benjamins Andrew Briggs Checquerboard Elliott from the West Kowalski	Kyron and the Strangels LaFaro Lowly Knights Lee Mitchell Panama Kings The Rumplestiltskins	SixStarHotel Strait Laces Sully Micah Vincent
2009[8][9]	7–9 August	Forfey Farm	Adebesi Shank And So I Watch You From Afar Bad Operator (DJ) Cardigan Drive The Continuous Battle of Order Filaria The Good Fight (acoustic) Grand Pocket Orchestra	Kinnego Flux Kowalski (DJ) Lowly Knights Maguire and I David McNair Mojo Fury Napoleon Not Squares	Panama Kings Push Borders (acoustic) SixStarHotel Sully (DJ) Mel Wiggins Jamie Woon
2010[10]	6–8 August	Forfey Farm	Adebesi Shank Axis Of Iain Archer Bad Operator Captain Cameron Clown Parlour Gareth Dunlop Feet for Wings	Laura Hunter Katie and the Carnival LaFaro Lowly Knights Maguire & I More than Conquerors Napoleon Not Squares	Rams' Pocket Radio Silhouette SixStarHotel Skibunny Strait Laces Sully Tea Party Urban Tramper
2011[11][12]	5–7 August	Forfey Farm	Amidships Before Machines Captain Kennedy Duke Special Event Horses Farriers	Feldberg Kasper Rosa Kowalski Master and Dog Mojo Fury More than Conquerors	Daithi O’Dronai A Plastic Rose Phoenix Fire Rams' Pocket Radio Silhouette The Wonder Villains
2012[13][14]	3-5 August	Forfey Farm	Axis Of Bad Operator Before Machines David C. Clements Clown Parlour Colly Strings Farriers Feet for Wings Fred	Go Wolf Havana House Party In Case of Fire The Jepettos Katie and the Carnival The Lowly Knights Master & Dog More Than Conquerors Morning Claws	Not Squares Katharine Philippa Runaway Go Sons of Caliber Strait Laces Sullivan and Gold Window Seats Wonder Villains
2013[15]	9-11 August	Forfey Farm	Alana Henderson Amidships Arborist Axis Of BeeMickSee Beulah Kim Craig McConkey Daithi O’Dronai Ed Zealous Enemies	Feet For Wings Go Wolf Hannah McPhillimy Hologram Jamie Neish Joshua Burnside Kasper Rosa Katharine Philippa Katie & The Carnival Little Rivers	Mojo Fury Patrick Gardiner PigsAsPeople Seven Summits Skeletons Sons of Burlap Sons of Caliber The 1930s The Emerald Armada The King Said
2014	1-3 August	Forfey Farm

References

1. https://www.instagram.com/p/2bCDnHOufi/
2. McBride, Sam (24 August 2006). "New arts festival kicks off in Enniskillen". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News and Media. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
3. "An introduction to: Forfey Festival". thisfestivalfeeling.com. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 16 December 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
4. McGarrigle, Amy (9 August 2010). "BBC – Across the Line: Forfey Festival 2010". bbc.co.uk. BBC Online. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
5. McBride, Sam (31 August 2006). "Arts festival plans to get bigger". Belfast Telegraph. Independent News and Media. Archived from the original on 22 February 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
6. "Forfey Festival". fermanagh.gov.uk. Fermanagh District Council. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
7. "Forfey Festival 8th – 10th August 2008". fermanagh.gov.uk. Fermanagh District Council. 23 July 2008. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
8. "Forfey Line-Up Announced". iheartau.com. AU Magazine. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
9. Saunderson, Sarah (13 August 2009). "Hundreds camp out at the family-run Forfey Festival". Impartial Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
10. "Adabesi Shank, LaFaro, Iain Archer & more for Forfey Festival". hotpress.ie. Hot Press. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
11. McMorran, Carys (8 August 2011). "Forfey Festival". bbc.co.uk. BBC Online. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
12. Lennox, Steve (August 2011). "Forfey Festival". iheartau.com. AU Magazine. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
13. "Music – Forfey Festival". forfey.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
14. "Deadline Extension!". forfey.co.uk. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
15. "Music – Forfey Festival". forfeyfestival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.

External links

• Official Website
• Video documentary (Babysweet Sessions 2009)