The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival has been cancelled for the second year in a row due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now that we are in the days before Tinder and Bumble, the idea of going to a singles event to try and meet your soul mate is largely extinct, but Lisdoonvarna is the perfect chance to do so in modern times.
However, after being postponed last year due to Covid-19 lockdown, this year's edition has also been postponed.
The event was set to take place in September and regularly attracts tens of thousands of people to the Clare town.
Festival Organiser Marcus White said: "As the Government have advised that there should be no large-scale indoor events until the whole population has been vaccinated, this year's Lisdoonvarna Festival has regrettably been cancelled. Many people, especially younger ones, will not be fully vaccinated before the end of September.
"All our events are staged inside including the country music marquee which can accommodate up to 2,000 people which is not permissible under current guidelines. We would not be able to manage the very large crowds that normally throng our small town for a month.
"We also have a duty of care to protect the health and safety of the local community, staff, artists and visitors so we will not be taking any risks," he added.
"Unlike the Electric Picnic festival, an outdoor event which has been postponed until the third week of September, rescheduling the Lisdoonvarna event to a different date would not be an option.
"September has always been the month the festival has taken place, since it began over 160 years ago. Traditionally it’s the time when farmers celebrate the end of the harvest and converge in the village looking for love and a bit of craic.
"It is this sense of heritage and history that makes Lisdoonvarna so unique and endears it to so many people from all over the world”
