2022-07-16 Forever Young - Palmerstown House, Naas

After 30 months of a pandemic, I finally got COVID, 11 days before Forever Young Festival, where I was due to shoot! So, after COVID kicked my ass, I had to isolate for another few days, my first day of freedom being the first full day of the the festival!

Should I have went? In hindsight, probably not. I was no longer infectious, so that wasn't an issue, but I was drained, had no energy and hadn't eaten properly in 10 days. Add on to that the heatwave Ireland was experiencing and I think we can all agree, it was stupid of me to go.

In my (albeit weak) defence, it was the first time I'd got a Media Pass for that festival and I didn't want to run the risk of not getting another. Plus the lineup was superb! Artists such as Nik Kershaw, the Undertones, Tiffany, Bananarama, Paul Young, Nick Heyward and many, many more were set to play, it was going to be a trues 80s music feast!

Anyway...

There were so many highlights from the weekend, a most of the performers were absolute legends, making plenty of time for photographs and with fans, it was brilliant to see. The crowd were electric, intent on partying and having a good time. The weather was scorching, a rarity for an Irish festival.

My own personal highlight? I got to meet Tiffany, I was instantly turned into a 15 year old schoolboy again!

Some folk might look at festivals like this and wonder why you'd go. Well it's simple. Everyone knows the songs, everyone is there just to have a good time and there are no idiots looking for trouble. It's all just about having fun.

Would I do it again? Damn right I would, I loved the weekend!

Enough of the talk, lets have a look at some of the photos!