Make new memories at Love is a Stranger mini festival in East Cork

Irish Examiner

6 days ago

Festival director of Another Love Story, Emmet Condon, grew up in West Limerick with no connection to any sort of music or event world, but always loved music, which he said his mum Marianne passed on to him.
After a lot of travel and some false starts at various careers in his mid-20s, Condon landed back in recession-era Dublin and started Homebeat — a series of house concerts that caught a bit of the zeitgeist of that moment.
From there, he kept at it and channelled his energy into it, which is when he said good things started to happen.
'Another Love Story arrived along that winding road through a whole series of chance meetings and friendships, and 11 years later, we are still here, and growing wings,' he says.
'There is very little roadmap involved in working in the music industry, especially as an independent operator, you have to pour yourself 1000% into it, and it is not without its challenges, but I am glad to say I love it so much, and genuinely if you said to me at 20 that I would be doing what I do now, I literally would not have believed it."
'Getting to go on the road for the next two weeks with Love Is A Stranger in Cork and Another Love Story in Killyon Manor with our small, but incredible team, and to get to work with such amazing venues and incredible artists is literally the stuff of dreams.'
Scale has always been a very important part of the Another Love Story experience for Condon and his team, and creating a festival at a scale that allows a sense of personality and intimacy to truly exist has always been important.
Shane Johnson will feature at the Love is a Stranger glamping and music festival in east Cork. Picture: Taidgh Richards
Condon intends to avoid the classic 'festival trap' where festivals become too big to avoid losing that sense of intimacy; hence, the idea to grow outwards rather than upwards.
Condon describes the sister festival to Another Love Story, Love Is A Stranger, as a vehicle for him and his team to bring the sounds and feeling of Another Love Story to new and interesting locations.
'We first landed in Cork in lovely Ballymaloe, just coming out of Covid, and have since established Love Is A Stranger in stunning Juniper Barn in Sligo, and we're very delighted to return to Cork to beautiful Ballyvolane House this weekend,' he said.
'We are also very indebted to Cork County Council for their kind support in bringing the event to Cork.'
Condon said luck has been on their side since day-one, with a very loyal and lovely crowd of people attending Another Love Story events, saying that keeping the festival small over the years has allowed connections to form between a core group of attendees.
'That group tends to form the cornerstone of most of our events, no matter the location, which is an incredibly lovely thing to witness. We are very lucky with the support we have and continue to get for all that we do,' he said.
He said, however, that one of the things he loves most about Love Is A Stranger is seeing an influx of new people from different locations who may not have previously attended an Another Love Story event.
'That is a very real bonus of bringing the festival to new locations and audiences, and it is striking to continue to find absolute gems of people and communities of great, creative, passionate and fun people living in the different locations - festivals are nothing else if not gathering points - and one of the real joys of running a festival is being exposed to these communities through your work,' he said.
He said that interacting with local artists from the local areas where Love Is A Stranger is held has been another highlight of the festival, and highlighted the array of talented artists that are set to play at Ballyvolane House this weekend.
Cork art folk/electronic star Elaine Howley will perform at Love is a Stranger 2025
'It's very hard to choose highlights. I think Elaine Howley is one of the most special musicians in the country, equally the gentle sounds of David Murphy's steel guitar are a treasure, as too Dan Walsh's Fixity project or the brilliant Jar Jar Jr — but Cork's position as a bastion of underground DJ culture is really interesting, and I'm really looking forward to having people like the gem Gilbert Steele, Patfeelgood from Funksmack, Cee M Cee and of course, probably my favorite Irish Djs the Sunday Times gang along,' he said.
Optimo DJs (Twitch and Wilkes) will perform in the Ballyvolane Barn for the first time
'Away from the Rebel contingency, it's hard to look past JG Wilkes of Optimo (Espacio) who is coming on the back of a very difficult few weeks as his long time dj partner JD Twitch has been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, so we are incredibly thankful that Jonnie is making the trip, and I think he is going to receive a very warm and emotional welcome for the LIAS crowd on Saturday night.'
Speaking about the location of this weekend's festival in East Cork, Condon described Ballyvolane House as 'an incredible setting, beautifully cared for by Justin and Jenny Greene'.
'Between the lawns and the beautifully restored barns, it provides the perfect mix of outdoor and indoor settings, and also some wonderful boutique accommodation options that is a real point of difference,' he said.
Condon said that each setting chosen for Love Is A Stranger tends to have a sense of gentle grandeur and escape, but Ballyvolane has 'a very special sense of being nestled in that gorgeous, rolling East Cork countryside'.