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Winterval visitor numbers back to pre-pandemic levels

Winterval visitor numbers back to pre-pandemic levels

Waterford has been bustling for the last six weeks as the 10th annual Winterval Festival has drawn visitors from near and far to enjoy the festivities on offer across the City.

The final week of the festival saw a number of highlights including the Winter Solstice celebration in conjunction with the Waterford City Arts Office, the Waterford Treasures Irish Museum of Time and the Winterval Festival.

The final event will be Buskaid, a day where Waterford is alive and has music on every corner. All monies raised will be donated to Tintean Housing Association.

It gets underway today from lunchtime.

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Winterval has featured broadly across national TV, Radio, Print and Online media with positive reviews received from the professional travel writers who visited the festival.

A full RTÉ Nationwide programme aired on December 16th showcasing the festival offering to the nation. This resulted in a great uplift in visitors to the festival and its website.

 The website attracted just under 20,000 visitors each week, with an average of over 5 and a half minutes spent browsing by each visitor, far above average statistics.  

 John Grubb of EveryEvent and Trevor Darmody of Waterford Academy of Music and Art are the dynamic duo behind the magic of Winterval 2022 as co-directors of the festival.

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“For the first festival following Covid, in addition to Winterval’s 10th birthday, there was a lot of pressure to get it just right and we feel it has been a huge success. The number of visitors coupled with the positive feedback speaks for itself," John and Trevor said.

Winterval events close on December 23rd, however Ice Skating, the Port of Waterford Eye, the Carousel in the City, Wizards and Dragons, and Santa’s Virtual Sleigh Ride are open to enjoy until January 6th 2023. 

For further details see www.winterval.ie.

For more Waterford news and sport, click here.

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