YOU’VE heard of the "Ice Bucket Challenge". Now prepare yourself for the Enniskillen Drama Festival Challenge!

The new chairman of the long-running event’s organising committee, Paul Doherty, is utilising the power of social media in a bid to attract a new audience.

Inspired by the internet craze that saw people across the globe doused in cold water, Mr Doherty, who is the store manager at Toytown in Enniskillen, has come up with his own unique challenge to promote the nine-day festival, due to start on Friday, March 4.

Speaking to the Impartial Reporter this week, he said: “I’ll be asking people on our Facebook page to film themselves saying the phrase, “Enniskillen Drama Festival, I’m watching you,” in as dramatic a way as possible, post it online and then challenge three friends to do the same by tagging them.

“It’s purely for fun and to promote the festival, but I’m hoping it will create a bit of a buzz as well.”

The new chairman, who also has the role of festival director, has also recruited a number of local A Level students to help spread the word about the upcoming event. They have made a short film in the style of a black-and-white comedy to promote the season tickets that are available for the festival.

“I just want people to get creative,” admitted Mr Doherty, who is also planning on making a few ads with the help of other committee members. All of their efforts will be available to view online.

Having been involved in amateur dramatics for many years, and a member of the Enniskillen Drama Festival Committee since 2007, Mr Doherty was honoured to take on the role of chairman last summer, taking over the reins from the long-serving Brian Farry.

The new chairman said: “He has stayed on as secretary to ensure a smooth transition. He is a stalwart who has kept me on track and without him I’d be lost.”

While he is looking to attract a new audience for the festival, Mr Doherty is keen to stress that he wants to build on a “very solid framework”.

He said: “The festival is now in its 36th consecutive year in its current format. The audience that we’ve had is a very loyal audience, but we need to attract a new audience."

The first-time festival director admitted: “For me, I will judge myself on the one thing that is specifically measurable about the festival – audience numbers.”

To freshen things up, there has been a "corporate rebrand" of the event. The festival has a new logo which is appearing on all the flyers and posters.

The festival website, www.enniskillendramafestival.org, has also been redeveloped, to make it easier to use. It has all the latest information on the event, including a breakdown of different ticketing options.

Mr Doherty said: “In previous years we relied on posters and flyers, but we want people to use the website to get all the information. We expended a lot of energy getting the logo and website sorted."

Having put together his first festival programme, the committee chairman revealed that it had involved a lot of “bartering, emails and phonecalls”. He said that this year’s programme features a broad range of genres, being performed by talented groups from across Ireland.

The event will open on March 4 with a staging of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys by the Phoenix Players, before drawing to a close on Saturday, March 12 with another Neil Simon classic, Lost in Yonkers, performed by Bridge Drama Group.

Thanking the Ardhowen Theatre, the district council, nightly sponsors and local businesses who advertised in the festival programme for their continued support, Mr Doherty added: “It’s all great help.”

For more information, including the full programme of events, visit the website at enniskillendramafestival.org, or visit the Facebook page.