New Listowel Campaign is out of this world
Today, Listowel Race Company premieres its new campaign video, celebrating the people, places and journeys that make the annual Harvest Festival such a much-loved fixture in the Irish racing calendar.
With the campaign message “All roads lead to Listowel, but some journeys just take longer than others,” the film follows a colourful cast of characters as they make their way to the famous North Kerry racecourse.
Filmed over five weeks throughout July and early August at locations across Kerry, the campaign opens with the newly announced Listowel Races McElligotts Kia judges Frankie Foster and Aoife Dunican (the Style Bob) making their journey to Listowel over the spectacular Molls Gap.
From there, viewers follow racegoers arriving through Kerry Airport, horses and their owners preparing for the big week, couples and families making their way through Listowel town, and a local getting ready to enjoy the serious racing and serious fun of the week as thousands of visitors descend on the town.
But there is one very special visitor still to arrive.
The film ends with the expected arrival of Alfie the Alien, a long-time visitor to Listowel Races, as he lands his spacecraft in the town park and makes his way to the races. The final scenes reveal that the other characters have all been waiting for his arrival, adding a playful and unexpected twist to the campaign.
Because when it comes to Listowel Races, everyone has a reason to come, and everyone has a journey to make. Even visitors from another planet!
The campaign was developed by a creative team led by Orla Diffily, with George Doyle of Neustock Media responsible for production and cinematography and Ger Mulvihill directing the social media and digital campaign.
The production team would like to sincerely thank everyone who helped bring the campaign to life, including Donal Lynch for organising locations; McElligotts Tralee and Kia; David Lynch for starring in the horse scene; Ger Mulvihill and Tom Long for their participation in the Kerry Airport sequence; and the management of Kerry Airport for their assistance.
Special thanks also go to Frankie Foster and Aoife Dunican for their time and enthusiasm during the opening sequence at Molls Gap.
A particular mention must go to model Timmy Dowd, who took on the role of Alfie the Alien, and to Elaine McCarthy and her family, Odhrán, Éile and Bróna, for their time, energy and fantastic performances in the family scenes.
Brendan Bacon stars in the local Listowel sequence, while Ryles Menswear, Tralee, helped bring Alfie’s distinctive racing look to life.
And huge thanks go to George Doyle and the team at Neustock Media, who went above and beyond to create the spectacular spaceship landing sequence in Listowel Town Park.
Brenda Daly, Manager of Listowel Race Company, also played a key role in bringing the campaign together.
The Directors of Listowel Race Company now look forward to welcoming racegoers from Ireland, across the world and beyond to seven days of racing, fashion, entertainment and fun at the 168th Harvest Racing Festival.
And, as Alfie has discovered, all roads really do lead to Listowel.
For further information, tickets and updates visit www.listowelraces.ie and follow #ListowelRaces and #Listowelisthegoal across Facebook, Instagram and X.
