Vehicles of all sorts are getting spruced up ahead of the Knock Tractor Run, which will take place in the village of Knock, Co Tipperary, on Sunday 28 November.

Registration will begin at 12pm and the convoy of vehicles will take off from the village at 2pm.

Liam Flannery, one of the organisers of the run, anticipates a good crowd of people from young and old to Knock village on Sunday.

“We moved our event completely outdoors this year in light of COVID-19 and are adapting to the challenges it brings.”

In previous years, an auction and music night would be held in the pub, but Offaly singer Rock On Paddy is booked for an open-air concert to lift the spirits and will kick off from 12pm in the village.

“We brought Rock On Paddy out of retirement especially for the day and he will be in an open trailer providing entertainment while people enjoy some refreshments,” Flannery said.

In its seventh year running, all funds raised from this year's event will be donated to North Tipperary Hospice (Roscrea branch), Dean Maxwell Community Unit Roscrea and local community groups.

Route

The route for the run will be about 14km in total.

The convoy will be led out of the village of Knock towards the main road, heading for Roscrea.

They will head down past Mulrooney’s Gala and turn left, passing Tesco, heading on towards the traffic lights.

At the lights, they will then turn left and head up through the town of Roscrea.

When they get to Shaw’s, they will veer right and head down Limerick Street.

They will continue on to the roundabout and take the first exit, passing the mart.

At McDonald’s roundabout, they will take the exit for Templemore and finally turn left back towards Knock village.

Kids' tractor run

Kids are invited to bring their toy tractors and bicycles to take part in their own run around the old national school.

“We had over 50 kids on bikes and tractors the last time. This will be going on between 1pm and 2pm,” Flannery said.

Auction

There are over 30 lots up for auction ranging from timber and turf to bags of meal.

Tickets for the auction will be sold between registration and the start of the run.

Flannery said that the Knock Tractor Run team is hoping to raise as much as they can for the charities involved and to give the local people a nice day out.

"Previous years, we have raised €8,000 and we hope to raise as much as we can again this year,” he concluded.