Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THE stars from The Commitments will be shining brightly in the kingdom as part of the Bahrain Irish Society's 35th anniversary celebrations, writes Stan Szecowka.
The event coincides with news that a sequel to the 1991 Oscar-dominated hit movie is to be made to coincide with its 20th anniversary next year.
James Kennedy, the society's newly-elected chairman who holds the same office for the Arabian Celts Gaelic Football Club, said: "We wanted to do something a little bit special. As part of that commitment we were looking for a headline act that would rock the Irish Festival this year and as the 20-year anniversary of the Commitments is coming up, well it all just made sense.
"After a few phone calls contact was made with the band's manager and suddenly we had our headline act for the Bahrain Irish Festival."
The festival, hosted by the society and the Gaelic football club, is one of the highlights of the region's social calendar.
The opening ceremony will take place in JJ Murphy's Irish Bar & Restaurant on Thursday, November 25, with The Stars From The Commitments taking stage to kickstart the weekend.
The festival really kicks into gear on the following day with a feast of Gaelic football, Irish dancing and a Festival of Music with The Stars From The Commitments headlining at the Bahrain Rugby Club in Saar. There will also be bouncy castles, face painting, barbecues and lots more entertainment throughout the day.
The Commitments comedy-drama, a film adaptation of a novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle, told the story of an unemployed Dubliner who decided to form Ireland's greatest soul band.
Dick Massey and Kenneth McCluskey both featured strongly in the movie as Billy 'The Animal' Mooney and Derek 'Meat-man' Scully respectively and star in the band which has a global following in its own right.
Dick told GulfWeekly: "We are really looking forward to returning to the Gulf and promise a party to remember."
Kenneth added: "We're going to treat you to the sounds of Mustang Sally, Midnight Hour and many more soul classics to keep the party going."
As well as musical entertainment some serious sport is on the agenda too. The Gaelic Games have been running for 18 years and this year a record number of 24 adult teams will be competing.
The games will be a ratified as a regional tournament of the Asian County Board under the umbrella of the Gaelic Athletic Association back in Ireland - the first time this honour has been bestowed on a club in the Middle East.
The games will carry the official title of the Middle East Gaelic Games and will be sponsored by Bahrain Duty Free. Bahrain will also be the launch pad for the newly-created Gaelic Football Middle East League with the opening games being played during the tournament.
Mr Kennedy believes the Bahrain Irish Festival 2010 will be the best ever. "So much work has been put into the organisation of the weekend by the committees of the Bahrain Irish Society and the Arabian Celts Gaelic Football Club in conjunction with the Bahrain Rugby Club and JJ Murphy's.
"Of course, all of this couldn't happen without the generous support of our sponsors, in particular Bahrain Duty Free, Aer Rianta International Middle East, SA Kentz, Mercury Engineering & RCSI Bahrain. I really feel that it is not a weekend to be missed - November 25/26/27 get it in your diaries today!"
