Sligo Live 2011
Sligo
26-31st October

Just when you thought it was safe to go into winter hibernation comes news that there's one last breath left in the festival calendar.Sligo Live began in 2006 as an outdoor summer festival ,but has in recent years shifted its focus to indoor venues over the October Bank Holiday.This years festival - to be comprehensively reviewed in these pages-is headlined by a solo show from Elvis Costello,paying his first working visit to Sligo.In addition,appearances by KT Tunstall,Oddsocks Revival ,acoustic country punsters Hayseed Dixie,and The Unwanted would whet the appetites of anyone looking for a good time.

Add in for good measure a festival club running till very late indeed,the usual pub trail(often a revelatory source of terrific music) and a newly minted spoken word feature ,and it immediately becomes obvious why cultural tourism is one of Sligo's major assets.

All this can be had -and the full roster of acts checked out at Sligolive.ie - for the very reasonable sum of 95 euro.As Great Uncle Vitaly might say-"simples".!