{"id":1011,"date":"2017-08-30T20:43:22","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T19:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/?p=1011"},"modified":"2017-08-30T20:46:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T19:46:41","slug":"a-weekend-of-country-music-and-history-making-harvest-country-music-festival-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/2017\/08\/30\/a-weekend-of-country-music-and-history-making-harvest-country-music-festival-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"A weekend of country music and history-making: Harvest Country Music Festival 2017!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last weekend of August 2017 saw Aiken Promotions host and produce Ireland\u2019s biggest ever country music festival in both Enniskillen Airport, County Fermanagh and Westport, County Mayo. Showcasing some of the best artists from the world of country, as well as upcoming artists from both sides of the Atlantic, it was a must-see for us at CMNI! Take a peek at what we thought of the first year of Harvest!<\/p>\n

Day #1<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The first day of Harvest at Enniskillen Airport on 26th<\/sup> August saw an amazing line-up! With local star Cliona Hagan kicking the day off with a fun-filled set on Main Stage, it helped to set up the mood for the rest of the day!<\/p>\n

While there were was so many talented artists, we couldn\u2019t possibly see them all! However, some of the highlights for us included many of the Main Stage artists.<\/p>\n

\"FB_IMG_1504106516780\"Ward Thomas impressed us with their heavenly harmonies, sisterly charisma and the enthusiastic performance of their backing band. Our favourite tracks from their set most certainly was \u2018Cartwheels<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018Guilty Flowers\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"FB_IMG_1504106524520\"<\/p>\n

Up next was American duo Maddie and Tae. Out of the many acts performing over the weekend, these girls were the most comfortable chatting to the crowd of country fans, introducing songs with friendly humour and enthusiasm. Crowd favourite \u2018Girl in a Country Song<\/em>\u2019 went down a treat with the crowd, despite the short shower of rain during their set \u2013 it is Northern Ireland after all!<\/p>\n

Country Music legend Charley Pride was next to grace the Main Stage, opening up with hit songs \u2018Is Anybody Goin\u2019 to San Antone\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Chrystal\u00a0<\/em>Chandeliers<\/i>\u2019. Pride was, still and always will be a legendary entertainer with people of all ages, both young and old!<\/p>\n

CMNI were also impressed with Mo Pitney\u2019s set at the Vicar St Stage. A lively set full of charm and charisma, Pitney entertained the marquee despite the ground being sodden with mud all weekend! Highlights included \u2018It\u2019s a Boy and a Girl Thing<\/em>\u2019, \u2018I Met Merle Haggard Today<\/em>\u2019 as well as his closing song \u2018Country<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Closing Saturday at Harvest Enniskillen was award-winning Texan Miranda Lambert. Despite suffering from vocal issues at the end of a hectic European Tour, Lambert still gave a memorable performance. Whilst clearly showing emotional frustration from her illness, Lambert performed classics \u2018The House That Built Me\u2019, \u2018Highway Vagabond\u2019, \u2018We Should Be Friends\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Tin Man\u2019<\/em> beautifully.<\/p>\n

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Our highlight of her performance was the fun-filled and lively \u2018Pink Sunglasses<\/em>\u2019 which revved the crowd up. The crowd were clearly grateful for Lambert\u2019s efforts to put on a \u00a0memorable show, despite feeling ill \u2013 let\u2019s hope Lambert will return to the Emerald Isle soon!<\/p>\n

Day #2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sunday of the Harvest Festival was another fun-filled day. Whilst Saturday had a better balanced lineup, there were still many highlights. Donna Taggart opened the festival up with a stunning performance, attracting large crowds. The Roadhouse Stage hosted amusing dancing sessions, with Barry Kirwan putting on a jivetastic performance!<\/p>\n

\"FB_IMG_1504106559929\"Next up was singer-songwriting duo Dan+Shay. These guys were a clear hit with the ladies of the crowd, drawing one of the bigger day time crowds, filled with a legion of diehard fans! Highlights included \u201919, You and Me<\/em>\u2019 as well as \u2018From The Ground Up\u2019<\/em>. The duo pleased the crowd further with an announcement of both Belfast and Dublin dates in December 2017. Definitely a must-see!<\/p>\n

Jarrod Dickenson impressed the Vicar St Stage with his folk-inspired melodies and soulful songs, including \u2018Rosalie<\/em>\u2019 and \u2018California<\/em>\u2019. Dickenson will be returning to Northern Ireland, when he will play the Belfast Empire on 22nd<\/sup> October 2017.<\/p>\n

\"FB_IMG_1504106575169\"A huge highlight of the whole festival was the arrival of bro-country star Kip Moore.\u00a0With an energetic performance of hits including \u2018Somethin\u2019 Bout a Truck\u2019, \u2018I\u2019m to Blame\u2019<\/em> as well as \u2018Wild Ones<\/em>\u2019, Moore was lapped up by the crowd, creating one of the best atmospheres of the whole festival!<\/p>\n

Local legend Nathan Carter was next to the Main Stage to close the festival!\u00a0Drawing the biggest crowd of the festival, the star\u00a0and his large backing band entertained the crowd throughout the whole set\u00a0of dancing numbers and powerful ballads.The singer clearly enjoyed playing to a home audience, jokingly breaking the curfew by a few minutes!<\/p>\n

Overall, Harvest Country Music Festival had a great first year! Roll on Harvest CMF 2018!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last weekend of August 2017 saw Aiken Promotions host and produce Ireland\u2019s biggest ever country music festival in both Enniskillen Airport, County Fermanagh and Westport, County Mayo. Showcasing some of the best artists from the world of country, as well as upcoming artists from both sides of the Atlantic, it was a must-see for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[17,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/FB_IMG_1504106733145.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1027,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions\/1027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}