Media co-ordinatior for the festival Janette McCosker told the Daily Liberal almost 1000 adults and more than 300 children went through the gate making it an extremely successful festival.

“A lot of Irish people work around NSW and they Google something to do for Easter or something Irish and they find the Tullamore Festival so they come,” she said.

“We had two buses come out from Parkes and a bus load come from Dubbo.”

One person told her at the gate he travelled from the city to the country every Easter and the festival was great fun.

This year saw one of the biggest crowds at the annual event, she said, with many people camping.

The festival’s biggest day, Saturday, began with a parade through the village and continued with Irish music and dancing.

The many talented entertainers included Doherty and Burkett, Maria Forde and Dwyer Whelan.

It was a gamble having the festival during the Easter weekend, Ms McClosker said, but the warm weather was a big draw card for people to come and enjoy Irish culture.

“One activity which was really good was the Irish tug of war,” she said.

“This isn’t the normal tug of war with two sides, we have a four way pull and there was very strong competition for good prize money.”

The children were not left out as they had circus performances, Irish music workshops and dancing, all free of charge.

To celbrate the Year of the Farmer, the festival brought in Zoomoovz a baby animal farm from Dubbo, for the children to have a close up experience with ducklings, calves, lambs, rabbits, insects, frogs, lizards and snakes.

Money raised from the festival would go towards future festivals and back to the community through donations to local schools and organisations, she said.

“This year we built a new stage so it saves us money instead of hiring stages and we also spent money on the local showground,” she said.

As the Tullamore Irish Festival reaches its 10th year next year, she said the milestone would be remembered with a big celebration and top class entertainers.