The Friends of Ted Festival, or Ted Fest as it is more affectionately known, is a festival held on the island of Inis Mór, off the coast of County Galway, Ireland in tribute to the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. The festival first occurred in 2007, on the weekend of Friday February 23 until Sunday February 25. It was the world's first Father Ted festival and was held on an island neighbouring Inis Oírr, whose coastline features the shipwreck that can be seen in the opening sequence of the series. Ted fans camped on the island for the entire weekend and all proceeds went to the local charity Croí. Ted Fest returns in 2008.

Events

A number of events took place at the festival, mostly at Óstan Árainn (Aran Islands Hotel)[1], and each themed in association with the comedy series.

* Best Episode - The best Father Ted episode was determined by those who attend this year's festival. The winner was "New Jack City".

* Father Jack Cocktail Evening

* Father Dougal Breakfast Movie Charades

* Lovely Girls Contest and Charity Auction

* Crazy Golf

* Hide A Nun and Seek

* Ludo Aerobics

* Buckeroo Speed Dating

* Ferrero Rocher Quiz Night


A Song for Europe

This is a parody of the episode "Song for Europe".

The 2007 Inis Mór Song for Europe is "Jack in the Box" by OK Chorale. Songwriters Peadar and Geordan joined the festival on Inis Mor on Sunday February 25 to record the song live accompanied by the Craggy Island Singers. According to the official website, the OK Chorale was formed following "a bizarre boating accident", in which "a skiff containing two Christy Moore impersonators, fleeing from an ugly scene at the Tory Island singing festival, became hopelessly lost and collided with a fishing boat entering Teelin Harbour. The ensuing brawl developed into a lengthy drinking session in the nearby Rusty Mackerel, where the men discovered their mutual enthusiasm for (a) The Eurovision Song Contest and (b) the music and legs of Clodagh Rodgers."

Toilet Duck Comedy Awards

This is a parody of the Golden Cleric award featured in "A Christmassy Ted".

On Wednesday February 21 at the Kings Head in County Galway eight of Ireland’s up and coming comedians competed for a place in the final at Ted Fest 2007 on Inis Mór. The final took place in the Aran Islands Hotel on the Friday of the festival, attended by special guest Michael Redmond (the actor who played Father Stone from the series). The prize for the Kings Head Toilet Duck Award is €1000, an appearance at the Cork Comedy Festival and a golden duck.


Football match

This is a parody of the "All-Priests Five-a-Side Over-75's Indoor Football Challenge Match" featured in the episode "Escape from Victory".

A football match between the two islands to commemorate the game that featured in the series. Former Republic of Ireland footballers Tony Cascarino and John Aldridge were opposing captains, whilst celebrity referee Pierluigi Collina sailed to Inis Mór to referee the one-off tie. The match took place on the beach on the final day of the festival. The winning island side, (Inis Mór by 2-0) was declared "The Real Craggy Island" for the coming year. Inis Oirr received the title of "Rugged Island". The captains on the day were Padraig Ó Flaithearta (Inis Mor) and Mairtin Seoighe (Inis Oirr), and the goalscorers were Adam Clark and Cillian Joyce.

2008 festival

Ted Fest 2008 will feature separate events on the island of Inishmore [2] and on the mainland at Kilfenora, County Clare [3] (site of Parochial House external shots in the series). The Craggy Island World Cup has been expanded to admit all islands of Ireland.