History buffs and culture vultures can look forward to a festival feast over the weekend!

Banagher has a strong military history, and the festival will include a mock blast from a replica cannon on the settings of Fort Eliza, a military fortification equipped with four 24-pounder guns, a magazine and a guard house, and which was erected as a direct response from the ruling British to the potential threat of a Napoleonic invasion via The River Shannon.  The festival will also utilise some of the other beautiful military fortifications, and visitors can check out the Food and Craft Fair in the town’s old barracks – Fort Falklands.  Energetic history buffs can also sign up to a heritage cycle on Sunday morning, which will take in some of the town’s landmark sights.

This year’s programme is particularly strong on literary events with the launch of three books, a film premiere and a craft exhibition all related to Charlotte Brontë’s connection with Banagher (her honeymoon destination), and Patrick Slattery’s book That Beats Banagher will be introduced by the author himself. Banagher is seeped in history, in fact in the 17th century, the town was the centre of a flourishing woollen trade. The festival will pay homage to the art of craftsmanship and ancient Irish traditions with workshops and demonstrations by a blacksmith and a straw-weaver.