Laois woman to compete for coveted Blue Jean Country Queen crown
Laois representative for the 2026 Blue Jean Country Queen Festival announced
A young woman from Laois will take part in the 2026 Blue Jean Country Queen Festival in Athboy, County Meath later this month.
Katie Mulligan is Laois’ representative for the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival which is organised by Meath Macra na Feirme in collaboration with the community of Athboy.
The festival will take place over the June bank holiday weekend, from May 29 to June 1. The weekend will feature live music, family-friendly entertainment, and the coronation of the 2026 Blue Jean Country Queen.
A member of Portlaoise Macra and a funeral home receptionist, Katie will join 21 other ‘queens’ for the festival in Athboy.
The competition to crown the Blue Jean Country Queen is the highlight of the weekend, with many of the contestants selected from Macra na Feirme counties and regions across Ireland.
This year, the festival will also welcome a contestant representing France, as part of Athboy’s longstanding twinning agreement with Autonne-Villages in Picardy. As well as this, a contestant from the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster will represent Northern Ireland.
Katie and the rest of the queens will be welcomed into the community and stay with local families for the weekend. There is a busy schedule planned for the queens, with a karaoke competition, fancy dress football, and much more.
If Katie is victorious for Laois, she will walk away with €1,000 sponsored by Le Chéile Credit Union, a perpetual trophy, and a golden sash. The second prize winner will receive €500 from Farrelly Tree Care Services and the third prize €300 from Meath Farm Machinery Ltd.
There’ll be plenty to see at the festival, with two free family fun days, a free BBQ, karaoke, and night-time entertainment.
To get herself acclimatised, Katie will first attend a team-building exercise at Causey Farm with all her fellow queens. The festival will officially start on Friday evening with The Nana Moons Pub Crawl through Athboy. There will also be a music session in the Darnley Lodge Hotel, open to ex-Macra members and anyone else who wants to attend.
It will be an early start for Katie on Saturday, as the queens will have their private interviews with the judges in the morning. That afternoon, she and the other queens will attend the Larry Kelly Plumbing and Heating Saturday Street Market as well as the annual family fun day and BBQ, before heading to Floods Bar for karaoke until early evening.
That night, Katie will have her public interview at the McNamara Feeds Queens' Interviews in St James' Hall with former 2 Johnnies Podcast co-host Maura Fay.
Sunday morning, Katie and her fellow queens will march through the main street of Athboy towards the Fair Green for the Fone Geek Lark in the Park, a free family fun day with children's entertainment, live music, food stalls, and a Toy Tractor Run. The queens will get the day officially underway with an ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’ themed fancy dress football match.
That night, Katie and the other queens will change out of their fancy dress and into formal wear, and join sponsors, committee and other dignitaries at the JMCK Building Solutions Gala Banquet in The Darnley Lodge Hotel.
Once the banquet has concluded, the queens will gather in the Darnley Lodge Hotel to find out who will be crowned 2026 Blue Jean Country Queen.