Love Sensation makes a stunning debut on the festival scene

Festival goers reflect on a spectacular weekend of music, good vibes and dancing at the inaugural Love Sensation.

Events . Written by Katie Donohoe.

love-sensation
Image: Ruth Medjber

The weather said “gay rights” this weekend as the sun shone on the grounds of Royal Hospital Kilmainham for the inaugural Love Sensation music festival.

The two-day inclusive celebration for Ireland’s LGBT+ community and their pals has been met with widespread praise from festival-goers.

Will St Leger, who designed the ACT UP activation seen across the festival grounds said:

“Love Sensation is the first festival that I’ve been to where I felt LGBTQI+ people like myself, could be our true selves. Joyus, expressive, respectful, brave, caring, inclusive, mindful and full of love and compassion. Thank you, Mother.”

Holly Shortall, who did a live episode of Popsessed in the Queer Quarters with Conor Behan tweeted:

“Can’t get over how GORGE Love Sensation was. Amazing vibe, gorgeous people, barely any queues for drinks/food/toilets, and I didn’t witness an iota of trouble which only goes to prove that LGBTQ+ people are the best in the world. Huge well done @cormacashman & @lisadonegal x”

https://twitter.com/hollyshortall/status/1163378285251825670?s=20

Twitter was filled with reflections on the weekend from festival-goers.

https://twitter.com/BrianOrmondeMur/status/1163052536263299072?s=20

The Main Stage was filled with spectacular live performances from Lily Allen, Kelis, Clean Bandit, Soulé, ELM, Le Galaxie, Le Boom, Toucan, Joyful Noise Choir and the magical Mother DJs, all hosted by the incredible Panti Bliss.

Lily Allen thanked Dublin following her performance:

She wrote in a tweet: “Dublin, thank you for giving me your love sensation.

“Definitely still feeling it the next day. Hopefully you won’t ghost me and we’ll do it again soon.”

The 34 year-old star even visited Gay Spar for what we can only imagine must have been for a post-performance chicken fillet roll.

The George stage brought the iconic Dublin nightclub to the heart of the festival with wall to wall performances from some of Ireland’s best drag performers as well as a few familiar faces from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The dance tent kept us boppin’ all weekend long with amazing sets from Daithi to Honey Dijon.

Another festival highlight was the Dublin Vintage Factory stage at the Queer Quarter which showcased local drag acts.

 

The amazing Gabriel Marques painted the iconic GCN Pride cover live at our booth in the Queer Quarter which will grace the walls of GCN Towers.

We have looooved seeing everyone’s Cover Star photos from our booth in the Queer Quarter. WERK!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1VauOJIBtb/

Tens of thousands of people attended the 2-day festival which was organised by the good folks at Mother Dublin.

It was an unforgettable weekend, huge congrats from all of us at GCN to our pals at Mother for creating a fantastic festival for the LGBT+ community.

Keep an eye on our Facebook for photos of day one and two of Love Sensation taken by the incredible Ruth Medjber and Babs Daly.

© 2019 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

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