A MAJOR addition to this year’s Wexford Opera Festival, which will see an early 1900s carnival coming to Wexford quays, complete with giant ferris wheel and carousel, is expected to attract 80,000 people into Wexford.

The organisers of the 1900s Carnivále event, Lantern Events, based in Wexford, have said it will compliment the Spiegeltent Festival perfectly. Brian Byrne of Lantern Events said an expanded Spiegeltent programme will see a much bigger ‘Paradiso’ Spiegeltent with a capacity for 12,000 people over three weeks coming to town. He said there will be a similar programme of events to last year, but on a much larger scale.

Speaking exclusively to The Echo, Mr. Byrne said: “We had 6,500 people through the doors in 2012. This year we can have up to 12,000 people.” The programme for this year’s opera festival was announced last week with huge demand already for tickets.

Mr. Byrne said Carnivále and the new Spiegeltent, (which is the largest of its kind in the world), will provide a major boost for the town. He said Lantern Events plan to attract internationally renowned acts to Wexford for the weekend of October 19 and 20, just prior to the 62nd Wexford Opera Festival, which opens on Wednesday, October 23.

“The Paradiso tent can seat 520 or have 700 standing. We are taking the festival to a new level and will be bringing in the tent from Holland. The plan is to have three weekends packed with entertainment. The larger tent will enable us to bring in bigger acts and we plan to have some big acts for the first weekend to get the crowds in which will help fill local hotels and businesses.”

For the full story see this week’s Wexford Echo newspaper.