TedFest 2023: Irish island of Inis Mor

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At Young Pioneer Tours our motto is “destinations your mother would rather you stay away from”. This usually entails places like Syria, Iraq, or North Korea, but what would your mum think of you attending TedFest?

For the uninitiated TedFest is a festival celebrated every year on the remote Irish island of Inis Mor, with the festival being an overall homage to everything Father Ted! If you do not worship, or have not heard of Father Ted then this tour is probably not for you. If on the other hand you are as big a fans as we are, then read on as this trip is truly bonkers!

Essentially every year people, which can reach up to 350 gather on a cold wet Irish island to dress up and generally celebrate all things Father Ted, or as they put it themselves;

‘So we’ll meet every year, when the weather’s shite, on a small island in the Atlantic.’

The itinerary includes a night out in Galway, a 90 minute ferry, or a charter flight to Ted’s island and then three days of Father Ted based fun. This includes talent shows, dance off’s, tribute bands and even blind dates. We may go to some off the wall places, but this is probably our whackiest tour yet.

And the organisers like YPT so much, they have not only given us a great deal, but have given us the right to pre-sell the tickets before they go on general sale in September. This is very important as not only do hotel rooms go quickly, but tickets for the event also sell out rather quickly.

ITINERARY

Wednesday 1st March – Galway, Ireland

Arrival at your convenience into Galway
Pre-tour meeting and get-together with YPT guide and other travellers at the lobby of our centrally located hotel at 6:00pm to go over the tour itinerary and plans for the coming days.
Head out for a walking tour of the city, which with the tone of this tour will inevitably lead to a pub crawl around Galway – one of the absolute best in Europe!
Overnight in Galway

Thursday 2nd March – Galway – Rossaveel – Inis Mor

Morning

Breakfast at hotel
Depart on our 9:30am bus to ferry port of Rossaveel
At 10:30am we board the 90 minute ferry to Inis Mór – the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay.
On arrival we’ll be picked up and transferred to the Aran Island Hotel, our home for the next 4 nights, as well as the host for the large event.

Afternoon

Lunch at the hotel
Tour of the island, despite it being cold and indeed winter on an Atlantic island, we do not let this put us off. We will visit the small museum illustrating the history of Dún Aonghasa, the Aran Sweater Market, probably a church before finding a pub where we can listen to people speak Irish, eat and enjoy some liquid delights.
Overnight at Aran Island Hotel

Friday 3rd March – Inis Mor

Morning

Breakfast at hotel and let the TedFest begin!
11:00am Tai Chi with Chris P. Duq
12:00pm The Socially Undistanced Athletics

Afternoon

Lunch at the hotel
2:00pm Matchmaking with Nellie
3:00pm Ted’s Got Talent
Dinner and drinks at the hotel
10:00pm Fr Joe Dolan
10:30pm Priest’s Dance Off
11:00pm The Craggy Island Celili
Overnight at Aran Island Hotel

Saturday 4th March – Inis Mor

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel
10:00am Yoga with Sr Buddhini Mankini
11:00am Craggy Island’s Fittest Family

Afternoon

Lunch at hotel
1:00pm Craggy Cup Presentation
2:00pm Blind Date with Eoin McLove
3:00pm Bad Ambassadors (Divine Comedy Tribute Band) 5pm Line Dancing with Fr Martin
Free time and dinner at hotel
7:00pm The Best Dressed Awards
10.00pm The Reverse Wheel of Death
11:00pm The Lovely Girls
Midnight Aftershow with Daft Kuntz
Overnight at Aran Island Hotel

Sunday 5th March – Inis Mor

Morning

Breakfast at the hotel
10:00am The Pan Asian Zen-Off

Afternoon

1:00pm The Screeching Competition in a Very Dark Cave
2:00pm The Comedy Crack Den
7:00pm The Annual Fr Norman Coates’ TED Talk The Craggy Island Plague of 1992
8:00pm The Prizeless Quiz
Dinner at the hotel
10:00pm Three Burka & Balaclava Ball
Midnight Hide a Nun & Seek
Overnight at Aran Island Hotel

Monday 6th March – Inis Mor

Morning

Breakfast at hotel
Board the 8:15am ferry back to the “mainland”
9:00am bus back to Galway
End of TedFest, YPT can provide advice on accommodation and flights, as well as currently working on a great extension.

GALLERY

What is TedFest? – 2023

What is TedFest, or as it is more officially known “The Friends of Ted Festival” is an annual fan convention for fans of Father Ted, or to put it into the immortal words of the organisers” ‘So we’ll meet every year, when the weather’s shite, on a smal …

Inis Mor Island, or Inshore Island is maybe something you;d expect to see in one of our other websites, but no YPT are giving a little guid etc this little island as we will be visiting here. To read about Coffee Caye click here. Inis Mor Island Guide …