September 18th – 20th, 2015 www.tuamtradfestival.com

Tuam Trad Festival is delighted to be able to announce that the 6th Annual Trad Festival will be taking place from Friday September 18th – Sunday 20th, 2015.

The World famous tin whistle player, Mary Bergin will kick–start the festival on Friday evening when she will officially open the Festival in the Corralea Court Hotel at 7.30pm. Following the launch, a concert will be held in the Ard Rí House Hotel featuring Mary Bergin, who will be supported on the night by a host of guest musicians and tutors from this year’s festival.
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September 10th – 13th, 2015 www.dingletradfest.com

Dingle Tradfest kicks–off on September 10th and will run until September 13th. Now, well established and in its 5th year, the festival will host a series of concerts, a themed session trail and outdoor events including a mountain hike and session on Cnoc a’ Cairn and a busking competition on the Saturday of the festival.
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September 3rd – 6th, 2015 www.gignthebann.com

The Portglenone Cross Cultural Music and Dance Festival is recognised as one of the premier and much anticipated events on the festival calendar. 2015 will mark the 16th anniversary of the festival, testament to its reputation for offering a highly impressive line–up of top performers spanning Traditional, Scottish, Gospel and Folk Music circles.
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July 27th – 31st, 2015

www.kilcaronline.com

This year’s Kilcar Fleadh takes place from Monday, 27th to Friday,  July 31st with registration for the various workshops in Áislann Chill Chartha from 11.00am to 1.30pm on Monday.  ‘The Ramblin’ Session’, a new event introduced last year officially launches the Fleadh on Monday evening. The Crossroads Dance takes place on Tuesday evening. Echoes in the Glen, a unique event that has proved very popular especially with visitors takes place as usual on Thursday evening with a complimentary bus service from outside the Áislann at 7.00pm.
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Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry
February 17th – 21st, 2016
www.thegathering.ie

With a finely tuned mix of concerts, ceilís, workshops and sessions The 17th Gathering Traditional Festival returns on February 17th – 21st 2016 to The Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry.

The Gathering Traditional Festival is firmly established as one of the most popular celebrations of Irish song and dance the world over. It has grown in strength since its inception way back in 1999 and incorporates a finely tuned mix of concerts, céilís, sessions, workshops and master–classes.
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www.rte.ie/rnag

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta listeners will be able to enjoy great traditional music live all next week from Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy in Miltown Malbay in Co. Clare from Sunday 5th July – Friday 10th July.
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www.leitrimcoco.ie

A series of professional development workshops for traditional musicians & singers
The Dock, Carrick on Shannon, Co. Leitrim
Friday 17th and Saturday 18th July
During Carrick Water Music Festival
As part of the Leitrim Equation Traditional Music Development Programme, musician and singer Eleanor Shanley introduces a programme of professional development workshops for traditional musicians and singers to enhance their skills in presenting on stage, publishing, marketing and promotion, how to get gigs, and how to get your music played on air. This unique and very valuable programme is designed to be highly informative, interactive and above all fun. It is designed for traditional musicians and singers of all ages, but is particularly suited to those considering traditional music as part of their career. Eleanor will be joined by musicians with vast experience and experts in each field including:  Stuart Ongley - owner of SGO Music; Elizabeth Laragy – Producer, RTÉ Radio; Ellie Byrne - Ellie Byrne Promotions; Rory O’Connor - Executive Producer of Sligo Live; Caitlín Nic Gabhann & Ciarán Ó Maonaigh – Musicians; Declan Drohan - Musician/Drama Tutor; Philip Delamere - Leitrim County Council Arts Officer; Keith Conroy - Sound Engineer.

www.tf.dk

A great deal of Canadian music is on offer to those who attend Tønder Festival this year, including a special concert featuring the meeting between musicians from Fanø and Cape Breton. Canada’s ambassador to Denmark, André Francois Giroux, will give the official opening address at Tønder Festival 2015.

Once upon a time, sailing ships set out from Fanø and sailed around the globe. Historically, Fanø folk have been in touch with the whole world, and in many ways, they still are: certainly as far as music is concerned. Fanø folk music is alive and well, thanks to the perseverance of the island’s musicians, and they are willing to travel. There is a strong connection with Cape Breton in Canada, where there is a lively music and dance scene with ancient roots, just like on Fanø.

With the people

The 2015 Tønder Festival audience can enjoy a festive affair celebrating the links between Fanø and Cape Breton. The Music, The People, The Spirit reads the event’s headline, highlighting the links between the two vibrant musical cultures. The evening involves concerts and dances, and each and every audience member is encouraged to participate so that folk music and folk dance live up to their names. Folk join in, they are not just observers.
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www.fleadhcheoil.ie
The Fleadh Cheoil Open Day, a one-stop-shop for all of your Fleadh Cheoil questions, will be streamed live on the internet next Friday June 19th, between 9am-11am GMT+1 on www.fleadhcheoil.ie. The fun will continue from 12pm-1pm when Musician’s Corner will stream live on Twitter, enabling musicians to play in front of a live internet audience.
This live stream is part of the launch of Ireland’s biggest traditional Irish music festival which will take place in Sligo 9th-16th August next. The Open Day live Q&A on www.fleadhcheoil.ie will provide the online audience the opportunity to ask questions about any aspect of the Fleadh.

When will the competitions take place?
Where the caravan parks will be located?
Will there be shuttle buses?
Will the streets be pedestrianised?
If the hotels are booked out, how do I get accommodation?
How do I register as a Volunteer?
What instruments can I learn at Scoil Éigse?

These are just some of the many questions that the Fleadh is asked on a daily basis through social media. Now, you’ll get a chance to speak directly with members of the Fleadh team, who will be online for this web chat, which will also be broadcast live on Ocean FM.
“This is a new innovation for the Fleadh Cheoil,” says Fleadh public relations spokesperson Micheál Ó Domhnaill. “It is important for us to engage with the public in many different ways. It’s one thing to be in Sligo for the Open Day and to be able to meet someone to answer questions. But there will be thousands of visitors in Sligo for the Fleadh in August, and we want them to be able to prepare as fully as possible, and providing an online platform for them to pose questions relevant to their needs and requirements is really important to us.”
As the 9am-11am slot may not suit people in different parts of the world, the Fleadh media team will remain online throughout the day taking questions via the Fleadh Facebook and Twitter channels.
“We will respond personally to each of the questions we get, hopefully within minutes,” says Peter McCarrick, another member of the Fleadh team. “Certainly, we will respond to everyone, even if the questions they pose might take a little time to give them the response they need, but, with people likely to ask questions on everything from events to where to stay to things to do in Sligo, we’ll have a full team there to respond as quickly as possible.”
The Fleadh will also have the support of Fáilte Ireland and Sligo Tourism to ensure that visitors to the Fleadh Cheoil will also be able to take in the Wild Atlantic Way, and the many experiences Sligo has to offer from mountain walks to surfing to golf, and much more besides.
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www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/14353

On Thursday 18th June 2015, Irish Music & Dance in London and Return to Camden Town festival presents the Irish Hooley in Bloomsbury, a great gathering of many of London’s finest exponents of Irish music, song and dance in the beautiful surrounds of The Bloomsbury Theatre. The event will feature:

-        The London Lasses and Chris O’Malley
-        CrossHarbour
-        Le Chéile
-        Artisan Row
Plus Terence O’Flaherty

The event is the formal launch of ‘Irish Music and Dance in London’ (IMDL), a new community interest company dedicated to promoting Irish music and dance in the capital. It will also be a fundraising event towards the cost of staging the 17th Return to Camden Town Festival in October 2015.

Venue: The Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH. Doors open: 7pm for 7.45pm onstage. Tickets £15/ £5 (under 18s) plus booking fee* Tickets available now via https://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/14353.

* Per transaction – it is possible to book up to 10 tickets on each transaction.

As always, any publicity you could give us would be much appreciated.

Best wishes,

Laurie Harper
For IMDL & Return to Camden Town
Tel:
0207 210 5227 – days
0207 263 6197 – eves/weekends
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