# Forfey Festival

Forfey Festival was an annual music festival held on Forfey Farm near Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The festival was last held in 2014. Each year's memorabilia (posters, flyers, social media and merchandise) featured a different animal as its theme, predominantly drawn by Neil Gillespie. 2014 was subtitled "Anno Rex", in memory of the farm's sole permanent resident, Rex.

## History

Forfey Festival was founded in 2006 by Matt Minford, bassist and vocalist of SixStarHotel. His family (still) own Forfey Farm, and for a number of years it had lain largely unused. For the first two years of the festival's existence, Minford was unable to obtain an entertainments licence for the farm, and so musical performances were held at other locations in Fermanagh, while the farm hosted arts exhibitions and camping. From 2008, the whole festival was held on Forfey Farm.

## Location

Forfey was held on a small family farm. While the festival was in progress, one field hosted camping and one field, car parking. Music venues included three sheds (known as the Hayshed, Lie-To, and The Pit) and a cottage attic (known as "The 1951"). Various outbuildings hosted mixed-media visual art exhibitions and film screenings.

## Lineups

Forfey Festival featured artists/bands :
| Year | Dates | Location | Artists / Bands | Artists / Bands | Artists / Bands |
| 2006 | 24–26 August | Enniskillen | Foy Vance Sixstarhotel | Mojo Fury | We Are Knives Heeltap |
| 2007 | 2–5 August | Enniskillen | | | |
| 2008 | 8–10 August | Forfey Farm | And So I Watch You From Afar The Benjamins Andrew Briggs Checquerboard Elliott from the West Kowalski | Kyron and the Strangels LaFaro Lowly Knights Lee Mitchell Panama Kings The Rumplestiltskins | SixStarHotel Strait Laces Sully Micah Vincent |
| 2009 | 7–9 August | Forfey Farm | Adebesi Shank And So I Watch You From Afar Bad Operator (DJ) Cardigan Drive The Continuous Battle of Order Filaria The Good Fight (acoustic) Grand Pocket Orchestra | Kinnego Flux Kowalski (DJ) Lowly Knights Maguire and I David McNair Mojo Fury Napoleon Not Squares | Panama Kings Push Borders (acoustic) SixStarHotel Sully (DJ) Mel Wiggins Jamie Woon |
| 2010 | 6–8 August | Forfey Farm | Adebesi Shank Axis Of Iain Archer Bad Operator Captain Cameron Clown Parlour Gareth Dunlop Feet for Wings | Laura Hunter Katie and the Carnival LaFaro Lowly Knights Maguire & I More than Conquerors Napoleon Not Squares | Rams' Pocket Radio Silhouette SixStarHotel Skibunny Strait Laces Sully Tea Party Urban Tramper |
| 2011 | 5–7 August | Forfey Farm | Amidships Before Machines Captain Kennedy Duke Special Event Horses Farriers | Feldberg Kasper Rosa Kowalski Master and Dog Mojo Fury More than Conquerors | Daithi O'Dronai A Plastic Rose Phoenix Fire Rams' Pocket Radio Silhouette The Wonder Villains |
| 2012 | 3-5 August | Forfey Farm | Axis Of Bad Operator Before Machines David C. Clements Clown Parlour Colly Strings Farriers Feet for Wings Fred | Go Wolf Havana House Party In Case of Fire The Jepettos Katie and the Carnival The Lowly Knights Master & Dog More Than Conquerors Morning Claws | Not Squares Katharine Philippa Runaway Go Sons of Caliber Strait Laces Sullivan and Gold Window Seats Wonder Villains |
| 2013 | 9-11 August | Forfey Farm | Alana Henderson Amidships Arborist Axis Of BeeMickSee Beulah Kim Craig McConkey Daithi O'Dronai Ed Zealous Enemies | Feet For Wings Go Wolf Hannah McPhillimy Hologram Jamie Neish Joshua Burnside Kasper Rosa Katharine Philippa Katie & The Carnival Little Rivers | Mojo Fury Patrick Gardiner PigsAsPeople Seven Summits Skeletons Sons of Burlap Sons of Caliber The 1930s The Emerald Armada The King Said |
| 2014 | 1-3 August | Forfey Farm | |