The Old Fort Quarter Festival 2018 is expanding!

The Old Fort Quarter festival will have an extra marquee launching the festival further up the Main Street in Portlaoise for its third year.

The festival is growing by popular demand, from Friday, June 22 to Sunday, June 24 the town's Main Street will become a hive of activity linking food, music, local heritage and family fun.

People of all ages will travel from near and far for the unique festival which has proven to be a fantastic success for the town drawing thousands of people over three days.

The focus of the festival revolves around the Old Fort Protector which lies parallel to Main Street and down by Fitzmaurice place. Read more about the Old Fort here.

This year, with extra support and involvement from more businesses in the town, a third marquee will be in place outside Portlaoise Courthouse.

This new area will have a host of local food producers cooking up a storm adding to the atmosphere with smells wafting through Main Street. The main stage will remain at the old Shaw's building and Fitzmaurice Place will be the centre of heritage and children's entertainment.

The festival has been a great hit with families with plenty of children’s events linking in with learning about the Old Fort with shield making, medieval hairstyles and archery to name a few.

Laois Heritage Society play a huge role in tying the heritage of Portlaoise in with the modern festival. Walking tours and interesting talks have gone down brilliantly with the public over the last two years and the organising committee hope to build on this again.

The festival has also become well known as one of the biggest music events of the year in Portlaoise.

While nothing has been officially confirmed yet, the Leinster Express will be delighted to announce the top music acts as they are revealed in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

The lively weekend has captured the attention of the public. All activities, entry and music events are free for the entire weekend thanks to the festival sponsors. 

Organisers welcome sponsors to get in touch with them via Facebook or email below. 

Volunteers are needed to help with the general running of the festival from Friday evening. Help is needed putting out traffic cones, putting up signs and moving barriers etc. Food and drink will be taken care of for any volunteers who get involved.

To volunteer or sponsor the event contact oldfortfestival@gmail.com or the Old Fort Quarter Facebook page here.

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