It was a great night for local groups at the conclusion of the 39th Enniskillen Drama Festival on Saturday March 16 with both The Knocks Drama Group and Ballyshannon Drama Society winning several awards. Ballyshannon lifted the Blue Riband trophy for Overall Winner of the festival, as well as winning the Open Section for their performance of ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’. Trish Keane, appearing as Miss Prism in this play, also won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The Knocks have already qualified for the All-Ireland Confined finals and they played to a sell-out house last Tuesday with a very funny production of ‘The Quare Land.’ They received the accolade for the most popular play with the audience, winning the Audience Award, as well as winning the Confined Section. Local director Ciara O’Flanagan was also recognised by adjudicator Tommy McArdle with the award for Best Director (Open Section). The high standards of all the groups was recognised by the adjudicator who spoke of how enjoyable the festival had been. The Best Director in the Open Section was won by Emma Jane McNulty of Dalkey Players. Their performance of ‘The Mill on the Floss’ was praised for its creativity and also won the Best Lighting cup for Barry Donaldson and Best Actress for Claudia O’Dwyer. New Festival Director Dave Rees thanked the audience for their continued commitment and the festival’s generous sponsors, without whom none of this would be possible.