Live Review

Milk 2010 – Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath

• 16th Aug 2010

I think Katherine Lynch stated it best when she ended her hilarious set by saying “wouldn’t ya hate to wake up…. and not be gay!”.

Gay, fun, flamboyant and camp it was, but Milk proved to be so much more than that this past weekend in Ballinlough Castle Co. Westmeath. The picturesque setting lent itself for just one day to a dazzling display of colour, music, art and comedy. The first-ever European outdoor LGBT festival went off without a hitch on Saturday and blew everyone away.

With a stellar line-up and an abundance of goodies thrown in the festival was a sure-fire hit with revellers and organisers alike already salivating over Milk 2011.

Some of the highlights of the day were headlining sets from the ever fabulous and quirky Roisin Murphy and the main stage was flooded for fan-favourites Samantha Fox, Bananarama and Alexandra Burke while Sophie Ellis Bextor topped off the night with an hour of camp, dance floor Chart classics to an energetic crowd.

The festival was a smorgasbord of colour and art with decorations dotted around the site to complement the creative atmosphere. From ten foot red stilettos to an Alice in Wonderland tea party to cows and questionable graffiti (including a glorious tribute to Crystal Swing).

The festival also catered to all form of tastes with a large selection of gourmet food on offer, a hot tub corner, a funfair and many many photo ops.

Some of the lesser known acts to play the festival certainly wowed on the day, including the likes of The Pulpit, Pony Girls, V.A.G and The Amazing Few. Every niche of the community were out in full force, not to mention the drag sector. With Panti as the always charismatic MC, Drag superstar Veda providing the tunes and a full-on drag show during ‘s set, the fierceness was surely brought. Lady Bunny‘s new cabaret/burlesque night ‘The Hutch’ lent itself to the festival and was impeccably show-stopping, even literally with some minor technical faults.

All in all, the festival was a roaring success and provided a necessary life within the LGBT community and marked a huge turning point for Irish society in general. There have been rumblings already and what’s possibly in store for next year and Glasswerk will be happy to let you all know first-hand what will be coming up in 2011.

Check out an abundance of photos on Milk 2010’s Facebook page..