Féile (Irish pronunciation:[ˈfʲeːlʲə]; "Festival") was a music festival held in the Republic of Ireland between 1990 and 1997, originally known as The Trip to Tipp. The original venue was in Semple Stadium in Thurles, County Tipperary, hence the nicknames of "The Trip to Tipp".[1] In 1995, it was held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city; Féile 96 was indoors at the Point Depot in Dublin. Féile was generally a three-day festival held over the bank holiday weekend in early August. In 1996 it was in July; in 1997, it was reduced to a single day in late August.
The festival was a progression from the Siamsa Cois Laoi held in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the 1980s, and the Slane Concerts at Slane Castle, which had been on hiatus since 1987 but would return from 1992. The Oxegen festival, first held as Witnness at Fairyhouse Racecourse in 2000, was seen as filling the gap left by the ending of Féile, and had the same promoters, MCD.[2] In September 2018 the event took place again, and was known as Féile Classical. A 2-day event at Semple Stadium, was also announced to take place on 20–21 September 2019, and proposed to feature Sinead O'Connor, Sultans of Ping, Therapy? and other Irish acts of the 1990s, under the names "Féile 19" and "Tripp to Tipp Weekender".[3]
1994 was Féile's final year as an on-grounds camping festival and tagged 'The Last Trip To Tipp'. Acts included The Prodigy, Blur, The Cranberries, Björk, Rage Against the Machine, House of Pain, Kerbdog, Cypress Hill, Grant Lee Buffalo and Aimee Mann amongst others. This was the last year of the initial arrangement with the GAA for the use of Semple Stadium. Objections from locals prevented renewing the arrangement. Televised by MTV, many of the artists stated their praise for the crowd as one of the most electric audiences they'd ever had.[16]Dance music dominated over rock in the lineups.[17]
The Féile name was retained but the concert moved to Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork city for 4, 5 and 6 August.[18]
The campsite was further from the venue, diminishing the festival atmosphere. Acts included The Prodigy whose performance was disrupted twice by power cuts, The Stone Roses, Orbital, Paul Weller, Elastica, Ash, Black Grape, Dodgy, Blur, Sleeper, The Boo Radleys, The Beautiful South, Tricky, Lush, Moby and The Devlins. Kylie Minogue appeared in the sidebar at an early stage in her transition from teenybopper to dance queen.[19] Free condoms were distributed to concertgoers.[20]
A man, Bernard Rice, was drowned trying to swim across the River Lee to the stadium. The city coroner, Cornelius Riordan, condemned Féile at the inquest, allegedly describing it as "an extravaganza of song, music and sleazy excesses that seem to have cast a hypnotic spell over the youth, as testified by this tragedy".[21] Promoter MCD, and its head Denis Desmond, sued Riordan for slander; the case was settled out of court.[22]
A fully seated "Féile Classical" event took place in Semple Stadium during September 2018, hosted by Tom Dunne and featuring the Irish Chamber Orchestra with reappearances by The Stunning, the Hothouse Flowers, An Emotional Fish, Something Happens, The 4 of Us, and the Frank and Walters.[27][28] A similar event was announced for 2019.[29]
Féile 19 (2019)
In 2019, the 'Tipp Classical' festival was branded as 'Féile '19', and featured a "classic" Feile set up with all the bands playing full sets.[citation needed] The line-up included Sinead O'Connor, Therapy?, Sultans of Ping, The Stunning, EMF and Horslips.[30]
^"Kylie: Biography". Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008. August 1995, Kylie performs live with her nine piece band at the world famous Feile Festival in Ireland
^
"Condoms will be given out at Feile". The Irish Times. 2 August 1995. p. 2.