It must be said that Clones is gaining something of a reputation as festival central. With hardly time to draw breath between the delights of the Flat Lake and Ulster Canal festivals, the good folk of the area are already gearing up for the next round of entertainment, in the form of Clones Film Festival, which is set to take place over the course of the October Bank Holiday weekend, from the 21^st to the 25^th of October. The Cinemobile will once again roll into the town for the weekend, and the eighth Clones Film Festival will bring its usual heady mix of international movies, short film competitions, discussions, schools programmes and children’s films as well as the ever popular festival club with live music every night.

In addition to the usual programme mix of the best of international and Irish features and short films, other confirmed highlights this year include a special screening of Dara McCluskey’s “Noisemaker”, a documentary on Jinx Lennon, which will be followed by a performance from the famous Dundalk troubadour himself on Saturday 24 October. Thursday will feature an evening of screenings and debate, chaired by Frank McNally of the Irish Times, exploring the role of GAA in modern Ireland as part of their 125 celebrations. As always, the coveted “Francie” awards will be up for grabs for the best short documentary, best experimental / fiction short, and the winners of the “Scanbitz” competition which challenges teams of film makers to film, edit and screen an original short film in under 48 hours.

Musical treats, which are sure to electrify patrons of the festival club, will include the incomparable Mirenda Rosenberg who is set to wow the audience on opening night. Other highlights include Ana Gog fresh from their success at the Flat Lake Festival, our own Hacienda, and Cormac McCann, who will play live piano accompaniment to a sceening of the silent classic “Battleship Potemkin” as part of the cinema programme on Friday 23 October.