The Friends of Ted Festival, or Ted Fest, is an annual fan convention held on the island of Inishmore, off the coast of County Galway, Ireland for fans of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted, created by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews.[1] The series was set on the fictional Craggy Island off Ireland's west coast, so Ted Fest is also held on such an island. In 2010 the festival expanded to an Australian edition, which was held in Parkes, New South Wales.[2]
| Ted Fest | |
|---|---|
 The Friends of Ted Festival, Craggy Island | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Dates | February, March |
| Location(s) | Aran Islands, Galway Bay, Ireland Parkes, New South Wales, Australia |
| Years active | 2007 – present |
| Website | www.tedfest.org |
Events include, the Lovely Girl’s competition, Ted’s got talent, The Celibate Olympics, Mecca Bingo and many, many more.[3]
Festivals by year
edit2007
editEvents
editA number of events took place at the festival, each themed in association with the comedy series.
- Best Episode - The best Father Ted episode was determined by those who attended this year's festival. The winner was "New Jack City".
- Father Jack Cocktail Evening
- Father Dougal Breakfast Movie Charades
- Lovely Girls Contest and Charity Auction (inspired by "Rock-a-Hula Ted")
- Crazy Golf (inspired by "Entertaining Father Stone")
- Hide A Nun and Seek
- Ludo Aerobics
- Buckaroo Speed Dating
- Ferrero Rocher Quiz Night
A Song for Europe
editThis is a parody of the episode "Song for Europe".
The 2007 Inis Mór Song for Europe is "Jack in the Box" by OK Chorale. Songwriters Peadar and Geordan joined the festival on Inis Mor on Sunday 25 February to record the song live accompanied by the Craggy Island Singers. According to the official website, the OK Chorale was formed following "a bizarre boating accident", in which "a skiff containing two Christy Moore impersonators, fleeing from an ugly scene at the Tory Island singing festival, became hopelessly lost and collided with a fishing boat entering Teelin Harbour. The ensuing brawl developed into a lengthy drinking session in the nearby Rusty Mackerel, where the men discovered their mutual enthusiasm for (a) The Eurovision Song Contest and (b) the music and legs of Clodagh Rodgers."
Toilet Duck Comedy Awards
editThis is a parody of the Golden Cleric award featured in "A Christmassy Ted".
On Wednesday 21 February at the Kings Head in County Galway eight of Ireland's up and coming comedians competed for a place in the final at Ted Fest 2007 on Inis Mór. The final took place in the Aran Islands Hotel on the Friday of the festival, attended by special guest Michael Redmond (the actor who played Father Stone from the series). The prize for the Kings Head Toilet Duck Award is €1,000, an appearance at the Cork Comedy Festival and a golden duck. The 2007 winner was Sharon Mannion and the 2008 winner was Bob Hennigan. The winner in 2010 was Gerry McBride.
Football match
editThis is a parody of the "All-Priests Five-a-Side Over-75's Indoor Football Challenge Match" featured in the episode "Escape from Victory".
A football match between the two islands to commemorate the game that featured in the series. Former Republic of Ireland footballers Tony Cascarino and John Aldridge were opposing captains,[4] whilst celebrity referee Pierluigi Collina sailed to Inis Mór to referee the one-off tie. The match took place on the beach on the final day of the festival. The winning island side, (Inis Mór by 2-0) was declared "The Real Craggy Island" for the coming year.[5] Inis Oirr received the title of "Rugged Island". The captains on the day were Padraig Ó Flaithearta (Inis Mor) and Mairtin Seoighe (Inis Oirr), and the goalscorers were Adam Clark and Cillian Joyce.
2008
editTed Fest 2008 featured separate events on the island of Inishmore [1] and on the mainland at Kilfenora, County Clare [2] (site of Parochial House external shots in the series). The Craggy Island World Cup was expanded to admit all islands of Ireland. [3]
2009
editThe third Ted Fest was spread over two weekends. The Pink Flamingos took the third Craggy Cup (non-island teams being permitted for the first time), while, in a bizarre coincidence, the Toilet Duck Comedy Award was won by a genuine ex-priest named FJ Murray.
2010
editTickets for the fourth Ted Fest went on sale in September 2009. The first weekend took place on Inishmore and the second on Inisheer.[6] A parallel Ted Fest Oz took place in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia during the Easter Triduum, however it was not a success, the local police removing its liquor licence due to noise levels.[2]
2011
editThe fifth Ted Fest took place on Inishmore from 24 to 27 February 2011. Scheduled events include a Lovely Girls pageant, "Ted's Got Talent" (a parody of Britain's Got Talent), the Ronnie Drew Hour, a Virtual Confession Box, a Craggy Island Kill Bill Festival, the Father Ted Prizeless Quiz, the Craggy Cup, "Matchmaking with Nellie," a Pirate Cruise and a walking tour to the Amish community.[7]
Ted Fest V also featured a video blog[8] by one of Dermot Morgan's sons, Rob Morgan, which gave an Access All Areas look at some of the many events at Ted Fest.
2012
editThe sixth Ted Fest once again took place on Inishmore in February 2012.[9]
2013
editIn 2013 the festival was held on 21-24 February.[10][11]
2014
edit2014 saw the first TedFest held in London.[12]
2015
editTedFest 9 took place Thursday 26 February 2015 to Sunday 1 March 2015.[13]
2019
editThe 2019 festival took place at Inis Mór on 23-24 February.[14][15]
2020
editThe 2020 TedFest took place on February 21st.[16]
2021
editThe 13th TedFest took place on 3-6 March 2022.[17]
2023
editThe 2023 TedFest was held on 2-5 March 2023 at Inis Mór.[18]
2024
editThe 2024 Tedfest took place on 7th-10th March at the Aran Islands hotel in Inis Mór.[19][20]
2025
editThe 2-25 festival is due to be held Thursday 6 March to Sunday 9 March 2025. [21]
Festival summary
edit| Year | Date(s) | Craggy Cup Final | Toilet Duck Comedy Award | Lovely Girl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 23 – 25 February | Inishmore 2–0 Inisheer[22] | Sharon Mannion | Agnes |
| 2008 | 25 February – 2 March | Inishbofin (County Galway) 4–3 Inishmore | Bob Hennigan | Tara Kilbane |
| 2009 | 26 February – 1 March 5 – 8 February |
The Pink Flamingos ?–? Aran Islands Hotel Barmaids (The Pink Flamingos won on tiebreak) |
FJ Murray | Sarah Gallagher |
| 2010 | 25 – 28 February 4 – 7 March Ted Fest Oz: 2 – 5 April |
Winners: Inishmore[23] | Weekend 1: Aoife Keegan Weekend 2: Paula | |
| 2011 | 24 – 27 February | Edwin Sammon | Majella Donoghue | |
| 2012 | 23 – 26 February | |||
| 2013 | 21 – 24 February | |||
| 2014 | 27 February – 2 March | |||
| 2015 | 26 February - 1 March | |||
| 2019 | 23-24 February | |||
| 2020 | 21 – 25 February | |||
| 2022 | 3 – 5 March | |||
| 2023 | 2 – 5 March | |||
| 2024 | 7 - 10 March | |||
| 2025 | 6 – 9 March |
References
edit- ^ Aaron Dunne (22 July 2009). "NSW town to host Fr Ted Festival in 2010". Irish Echo. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ a b Aaron Dunne (22 April 2010). "Fans enraged at Australian Tedfest debacle". Irish Echo. Archived from the original on 5 September 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ Aran Island Ferries website, Father Ted Festival 2024
- ^ "World Cup stars sign for Fr Ted". BBC News. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ David Whitehouse (10 March 2007). "Feckin' great". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ Louise Hogan (1 March 2010). "Pilgrims gather for holy show at Ted Fest". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ "The Events page".
- ^ "MeteorTV - YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "This week's new events | Culture | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
- ^ Hot Press website, TedFest 2013
- ^ TedFest 2013, article dated March 2nd 2013
- ^ Chortle website, TedFest Expands to London
- ^ O’Brien Line website, Ted Fest on the Aran Islands
- ^ Independent newspaper website, What it's like to hang out with Father Ted's Biggest Fans on 'Craggy Island' , article by Helen Coffey dated March 4, 2019
- ^ Irish Post website, Careful Now - Annual Father Fed Festival is Returning to Galway this weekend, article by Adrian Lonergan dated February 22, 2019
- ^ The Connacht website, TedFest retrieved September 19, 2024
- ^ Visit Galway website, ‘’TedFest’’, retrieved September 19, 2024
- ^ Clare Herald website, Official programme for TedFest 2023 confirmed, article dated January 30, 2023
- ^ Aran Island Ferries website, Fr Ted Festival 2024
- ^ [hhttps://clareherald.com/living/events/tedfest-2024-dates-and-ticket-sale-confirmed/ Clare Herald, TedFest 2024 dates and ticket sale confirmed, article dated October 14, 2023]
- ^ TedFest website, retrieved September 19, 2024
- ^ Owen Bowcott (26 February 2007). "Drink! Footy! Girls! It's the Father Ted fest". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- ^ Alex Donohue (12 March 2010). "Tedfest IV". The Big Issue in Wales. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.