Creating fresh Christmas memories in Waterford

Having been appointed director of Waterford’s acclaimed Winterval festival this year, Mr Ryan says he is acutely aware of the privilege his role brings.

With 500,000 visiting Waterford for Winterval, families firmly expect the standards that have seen the county become ‘Ireland’s Christmas capital’.

Mr Ryan is expecting an influx of visitors from all over the country by the time it ends on December 23 for the mix of free and ticketed events.

This is my first year as director and a key objective for me is keeping things fresh and appealing to visitors. Funnily enough, because Waterford has now done it for seven years, the hard work may done in one way, but maybe only starting in another. Keeping things new, fresh and exciting can be challenging. That is where I come this year — to push the festival forward.

“To bring 500,000 people into Waterford is incredibly important and it is hard to imagine Waterford without Winterval now. Even though it has been running only seven years, there is a generation of children that have grown up with it — all they know is Winterval at Christmas.

“Also when you go and speak to businesses in Waterford, and you speak to people involved in the festival and those who get behind it, the goodwill there is amazing. People are so happy to get behind it and support in, because they see the good it does for the city,” he said.

The lack of investment in the regions has been the source of contention from Government opposition, business organisations and academics in recent years — Waterford being no different. A festival like Winterval creates a boon for the local economy, Mr Ryan said.

“Even when you speak to hotels, they are booked out at weekends for the last couple of months because it is now in people’s diary — you make plans to head to Waterford at Christmas. The spinoffs for shops is great — you can see and feel and buzz and the atmosphere around Waterford city at the weekend. It is amazing.

“We started on November 16. It was a Saturday with the turning on of the city lights and the arrival of Santa. We had the biggest crowd we’ve ever had for the launch of the festival this year. That just goes to show how much the festival has grown.

“Everyone involved puts in a huge effort to make sure Winterval, and by extension, Waterford, stands out from the crowd. More and more places around Ireland are having a Christmas market, or having some sort of go at a Christmas festival. Winterval was the first one to do so in a very substantial way. Because of that, we’ve always been ahead of the crowd. The challenge now is to keep ourselves ahead, and our spot as Ireland’s Christmas capital.”

Promoting Waterford abroad using the lure of Winterval is also on the cards when it comes to future plans, Mr Ryan said.

Promoting Waterford internationally is certainly something we are looking towards, and are working towards that. The international market is incredibly important. Part of what Winterval does is retains tourists that might travel abroad for a Christmas experience — we can offer them that domestically.

“But we also need to be able to offer then the sort of attractions for tourists, so they can come to not just Waterford but Ireland for Christmas. There is so much going on across the country, there is a great reason to visit Ireland at Christmas.”

An airport with commercial flights would go a long way, he added. Waterford Airport has been without commercial flights since mid-2016 and there is an active campaign by local stakeholders to have them restored.

We would certainly welcome Waterford Airport reopening to commercial flights. We are lucky in the sense that we are only an hour away from Cork or Dublin airports but to have an airport in Waterford would be of huge benefit to the region,” Mr Ryan said.

With 500,000 visiting during the festival, it is hard from the outside to see how future growth will come — but it can and will grow, according to Mr Ryan.

“With half a million people coming, it’s already pretty huge. For the last four weekends before Christmas, it gets incredibly busy. In the future, we might look at trying to grow the audience during the earlier periods and during the week. The future midweek offering will be a focus,” he said.

The 28-year-old is in his dream job, having gained praise for his work on the Waterford Harvest Festival previously. Festivals infected his spirit during his teenage years.

“I was 14 when I volunteered for Spraoi and worked there for quite a few years. That’s where the love affair began — working in festivals, working outside and even working in the rain. I don’t think people would work in this industry unless they cared about the end product — the people who are coming and their enjoyment and their satisfaction. We are trying to create happiness, memories, goodwill and fun.”