Fingal’s Big Weekend Dublin Marathon and Fingal Festival of Fire
The Bank holiday weekend in Fingal was one of our busiest, hosting both the Fingal leg of the Dublin Marathon and the hugely popular Fingal Festival of Fire.
Sunday saw the Dublin Marathon enter Fingal via the Castleknock gate of the Phoenix Park where the 19,500 runners were greeted by three entertainment zones, live music, thousands of spectators and the best Fan Zone on the course! They were cheered on and hydrated at the water station all whilst smiling and dancing to the YMCA among other songs – it was a sight to behold!
The 2016 Dublin Marathon was the biggest to date. It is now the fourth largest marathon in Europe with 35% of the runners joining the race from overseas. We were delighted to welcome all the participants them to Fingal and to make their visit here memorable.
Monday saw the Fingal Festival of Fire take place in Swords Castle & Town Park. Over 10,000 people attended – a huge increase from last year’s event. Children and adults alike were treated to our super scary tunnel, our spooky mazes, live music from The Ghouls Totally 80’s band, trick-or-treat train, ghoulish entertainers and not forgetting our spectacular fireworks display. Swords Castle was lit up in sparkle and colour for all to see. Families came from across Fingal County to attend our free, family event.
Paul Reid, Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said “The Fingal Festival of Fire 2016 was an incredible success. We are delighted to be able to provide and host events like this for the residents of Fingal and hope that everyone enjoyed themselves. Hearing the positive feedback from the runners of the Dublin Marathon about Castleknock has been wonderful. It was a fantastic weekend for Fingal all round."
The Mayor of Fingal, Councillor Darragh Butler said “This weekend has been tremendous for Fingal with the thousands of runners and spectators in Castleknock and the amazing family atmosphere in Swords for the Festival of Fire. It’s a great pleasure as Mayor of Fingal to represent Fingal at these events".
Our Purple Flag was flying proudly at Swords Castle – an acknowledgement of the fantastic evening and night time provisions in the town.
