‘Sing for Me’ builds to a chorus

Event takes place on August 25-27.

Mental health advocate Leanne Coyle is overwhelmed by the support for this year’s Sing For Me festival.

Due to take place on August 25-27, artists have been applying to play at the event since January.

With so many acts, the festival will now run across three days.

Growing up, Leanne struggled with her mental health “as everyone does” and at the time she found there wasn’t much for people who weren’t into sports.

Her passion lay in music, art and photography, with music specifically providing an positive outlet.

“I had an eating disorder for years and what really helped me was music,” she said.

Meeting others, Leanne realised that she wasn’t alone, which is how Sing for Me came into being.

The part-time photography teacher set up the initiative in 2018. The response to the festival was huge and it has grown rapidly in popularity since.

This year’s line-up consists of local bands, whom Leanne considers the “original supporters”. These will be joined by acts from all over Ireland- from Galway, Cork, Dublin, Wicklow and Longford.

Astonished, Leanne reveals this is the first time they haven’t had to recruit bands to play the festival.

“They love doing it... They just want to help out and they want to make a difference,” she said. “It’s unbelievable, I cannot explain to you the goodness and the attention to detail these people give every year.”

“It wouldn’t happen without all of these bands giving up their time.”

With a foundation in positive mental health promotion, local supports such as Pieta House, SOSAD, and Teach Oscail among others will be present throughout o promote services available to people in the community.

“It’s educating people without pushing it down their throats,” she said, adding that this is especially important for young people.

From the music side of things, Leanne said the agenda is “jam packed” with five to six bands playing over the three nights from all genres of music ranging from rock, jazz and acoustic.

“These people are all coming out of goodwill to help out,” she enthused.

The festival will have its own merchandise this year as well as a few surprises on the night, including Sean McDermott from The Parlour in Ballinagh providing delicious waffles and more. A tight-lipped Leanne though is unwilling to share more about what’s in store.

Each year, the festival donates to a chosen charity, with Be Buddies not Bullies, the Kevin Bell Trust, SOSAD receiving aid in years past.

This year Ballymahon-based charity Cian’s Kennels will receive a donation, which was set up in 2020 in memory of Cian Neary, who battled hepatosplenic T cell lymphoma. Cian’s dog Buddy helped him through his treatments, which is why the family have set up the charity to bring pets to their sick owners in hospital.

“It’s just a really lovely charity,” she said of the initiative that allows children to see their pets during a difficult time.

Juggling between teaching, counselling through the Family Resource Centre in Cavan, Leanne loves organising the festival to promote positive mental health.

“It’s lovely to do, it’s not even work,” she explains.

Last year’s event sold out completely and Leanne is “begging” people to buy their tickets online this year to avoid disappointment.

“Blessings can only take a certain amount of people,” she cautioned.

Tickets can be bought through Eventbrite by searching Sing for Me.