GMIT Castlebar Whitewater Shorts Film Festival 2007

Following on from the festivals in 2004,2005 and 2006 we are hosting the 4^th Irish Whitewater Shorts Film Festival. Watch a variety of short features introduced by their directors and get a real feel for what people have been up to for the last year or two. This years festival kicks off on March 23rd 2007, in the Linden Hall Arts Centre, in Castlebar. Co. Mayo.

GMIT Castlebar Whitewater Film Festival 2007 - What's It All About?

The idea for this film festival grew out of a desire for people to see a wide selection of the latest footage of what people were at in whitewater kayaking within Ireland and abroad. There has been a huge upsurge in interest in video kayaking and with cheaper, better equipment people have been putting together some great footage. With a great range of international venues for kayaking now established we have had some great shows in the past. It is interesting that some of the features on Irish Rivers have held their own in terms of content and professionalism. The idea is to have a festival of whitewater films -so thats it. A great variety of films, an iintroduction from the director and a pint in the bar afterwards.

The All Important After Party.

As we all know you can’t have any kind of paddling event in Ireland without having an after party. And we won’t be breaking the mould with this event. So the plan is to have a live band playing in one of the many local pubs after the film fest followed by a dance off at the local night club or in Super Mac’s, whichever’s handier. Plans are currently being finalised and further information will be posted as soon as it becomes available.

After-Party Update:

The Son’s of GingerBread have confirmed that they will be playing the night of the March 23^rd at a local venue not a 5 minute walk from the Linden Hall. Big band, with some big talent. So get those dancin’ shoes on…

Castlebar, the Adventure Capital of Ireland.

The Irish Whitewater Film Festival has been held for the last four years in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Ireland. There are a number of reasons for this choice of location. Well actually there are two. Castlebar is the academic base for Ireland’s only BA in Outdoor Education at GMIT Castlebar and with good reason. Within an hours drive in any direction of Castlebar there is a multitude of activities available. These include kayaking (river, surf and sea), surfing, rock-climbing, hillwalking, bouldering, caving, mountain biking, sailing, windsurfing, cliff jumping etc. You get the idea. The original concept behind the film fest is the brain child of Stephen Hannon, one of the Outdoor Education courses chief lecturers.

The second and perhaps the most important reason from a paddlers point of view is that the area’s surrounding Castlebar offer a hugh resource to paddlers of all abilities. Historically Mayo receives the largest amount of rainfall in Ireland per annum. So it’s not a bad spot to be for paddling. To me personally what makes the area of Mayo particularly special for paddling is it’s abundance of mountain creeks and world class surf. Within 50 minutes of Castlebar there are the internationally renowned point and reef breaks of Easkey and numerous others that I would be beated up for mentioning, so I'll keep my mouth shut. And that’s only the tip of the ice berg. Co. Mayo has a hugh concentration of surf breaks along its coast.

Paddling in Mayo is in itself an adventure. Especially if your willing to go off the beaten track. In four years local paddlers have racked up about 7 first/repeated descents in the area. I think that this speaks volumes for the nature of the paddling in Mayo and gives some idea of what an untapped resource it is. When you have the likes of Ali Donald saying that one of his favourite Irish runs is the Shranalong, Co. Mayo then you know you’re onto a good thing.

A run down on some of the runs can be found on Irishwhitewater.com. A big shout out must go to Mr.Seanie Byrne for all hard work he put into designing the site and administrating it. A feat made all the more impressive given the fact that he’s studying for finals this year. I think I speak for allot of people when I say that it’s a great resource for all Irish paddles.

Graham Clarke.

Film Fest Organiser.