The 10th annual Cork Live at the Marquee concerts, which got underway last night, continue to grow in strength, with ticket sales often outperforming similar events in Dublin, according to promoter Peter Aiken.

The series of 22 concerts in the specially constructed marquee at a site in the city’s docklands continues until July 15th.

The concerts, which started yesterday with a performance from Sir Cliff Richard, are expected to result in a multimillion euro cash boost to the city.

Performers

Acts scheduled to perform include Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Bryan Adams and Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters.

Mr Aiken says he is amazed by the staying power and continued success of the annual series of concerts.

"I never thought it would last 10 years. The first year we did it, Brian Wilson was the opening night and it was pretty spectacular.

“There are the same people going to two or three concerts here. Instead of going out to dinner or whatever, a lot of people like going to live events. A lot of people want to play here in Cork.”

Brisk sales

He said ticket sales had been brisk in spite of the difficult economic conditions, with concerts selling out for established acts such as Dolly Parton, Bryan Adams, The Pixies and Paolo Nutini.

Dolly Parton is due to play this Thursday with Irish band The Coronas scheduled to perform on Friday. It will come to a close on July 15th with a gig by Lana Del Rey.

For the past 10 days a team of 50 people has been working 14 hours a day to get ready for this year’s series of concerts.

Capital of Culture

Live at the Marquee was originally conceived as an event to take place during Cork’s tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2005.

It was then decided to continue with the events in the years that followed.

In 2007 the organisers of the event decided to relocate from Monaghan Road to the Docklands on Centre Park Road in Cork.

In previous years performers such as Brian Wilson, Diana Ross, Al Green, Duran Duran, Bob Dylan and Elton John have played at the 5,000-capacity gigs as part of the series.