Media Box Releases

Alcohol Forum Introduces Ireland’s First Festival Care Guide for Event Organisers

With the Irish festival season in full swing right around the country, the Alcohol Forum, has launched Ireland’s first ever Festival Care Guide, detailing best practice on the management of alcohol at festivals and events.

A prominent feature in Irish life, festivals are occasions to celebrate the arts, culture, heritage, sporting success, community cohesion, and local talent as well as providing key economic and tourism boosts in local communities and on the national stage.

Launched in association with the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival which takes place next weekend, the Festival Care Guide is aimed at helping festival organisers and promoters to address harmful drinking at festivals and events. 

The Guide contains an extensive step-by-step management and communications plan focusing on issues such as personal safety and information for parents.

“Our Festival Care Guide is a best practice toolkit empowering those involved in organising, managing and running festivals and public events throughout Ireland. Whether it’s a national, regional or local gathering this guide should become part of the national psyche to ensure that events are memorable for all the right reasons. It is particularly timely given that in 2013 we will host a record number of events in Ireland to coincide with The Gathering,” says Pat Harvey, Executive Chairman of the Alcohol Forum.

The Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival is the first festival to endorse the Festival Care Guide. Chairperson Barry O’Neill says, “this Guide is very welcome and we are delighted to endorse it. I would encourage all festival organisers to make it a core element of their event plans. The Rory Gallagher Festival has always promoted the drinkaware.ie campaign and this latest guide will motivate organisers and attendees to have a greater social consciousness around harmful drinking.”

The Festival Care Guide navigates organisers through each step to help them execute a safe and memorable event including briefing key service providers and agencies, briefing of festival staff and volunteers, knowledge of the law in relation to alcohol, responsible serving of alcohol, publicising of festival with safety messages, promotion of alcohol free family zones, recruitment of event marshals and the post-festival debrief.

Local authorities in particular are being asked to endorse and to use this product in their role as advocates of local festivals and events.

Pat Harvey also says, “members of the public including festival-goers, performers, organisers, volunteers, staff, agencies and service providers are also asked to endorse, promote and encourage these standards to ensure that festivals and events continue to be celebrated as a positive feature of modern Ireland.”

The Alcohol Forum is a registered charity that works to prevent and reduce alcohol related harms in communities.

For more information or to obtain a copy of your Festival Care Guide contact john@alcoholforum.org or log onto www.alcoholforum.ie

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

Festival Care has been developed by the Alcohol Forum through the Time IV A Change Border Region Alcohol Project which is part financed by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVA Cross Border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body

Photos by Darren Foy.

Caption: “Getting in the Festival Mood” Alcohol Forum Deputy Director John O’Kane pictured with Barry O’Neill, Chairperson, Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival at the launch of the Alcohol Forum’s Festival Care Guide which is aimed at event organisers and local authorities to help reduce harmful drinking.