BELFAST holds the prestigious designation of UNESCO City of Music, awarded in November 2021.
It was the first city on the island of Ireland to receive this accolade, and the third in these islands — after Liverpool and Glasgow. Today its vibrant live scene spans traditional folk, rock, punk, and electronic music, and its array of over 80 dedicated performance venues.
In honour of this huge hinterland of music, next month Belfast will become the centre of traditional Irish music the world over as it hosts Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for the first time in the festival’s 75-year history.
The Belfast Tradfest
The cultural heartland of the city is the Cathedral Quarter, Belfast’s old warehouse district surrounding the impressive St. Anne's Cathedral. The cobbled streets are today lined with all manner of frippery from clubs to cafes, and notably the Metropolitan Arts Centre (10 Exchange Street West, 028 9023 5053, www.themaclive.com).
This stunning asymmetrical tower of brick and volcanic stone houses art installations, performance spaces, experimental works and endless goings-on. All sorts.
Belfast TradFest: The MAC serves as a core hub for this massive traditional music and arts festival, bringing multiple music and dance performances from July 26 to August 2.
The festival has become one of the highlights of Ireland's traditional music calendar, drawing performers, students and audiences from across Ireland and around the world.
It also serves as the perfect overture to this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which begins immediately afterwards. So, an unprecedented fortnight of traditional music.
Alongside headline concerts, the festival places a strong emphasis on education (workshops, tutoring) with Ireland's fastest-growing traditional music summer school offering tuition for musicians of every age and ability.
Masterclasses cover everything from fiddle, flute and uilleann pipes to singing, harp, bodhrán and Irish dance —beginners and accomplished performers alike can pick up tips from some of the top performers in music.
Among the headline attractions are acclaimed Anglo-Irish folk quartet Flook, influential Irish-American group Solas and the spectacular Michael McGoldrick Big Band
Kilfenora Ceili Band (Pic: Eamon Ward)Oh Yeah, founded by, amongst others, Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, will also have Tradfest gigs. The walls of the coffee shop in the venue are lined with portraits of the North’s greats — Van Morrison, Stiff Little Fingers, Terry Hooley (the man who started Belfast’s punk movement) and Neil Hannon.
Van Morrison, not a man much given to popping in, has popped in on more than one occasion to give an impromptu gig.
The Harp Bar will also act During Belfast TradFest (July 26–August 2), the Harp Bar becomes one of the TradFest’s unofficial homes.
Although many TradFest concerts take place in churches and theatres, musicians regularly spill into the Cathedral Quarter afterwards, and the Harp is renowned for its late-night traditional sessions where visiting performers often join local playersis one of Belfast’s great music venues.
Along with the Duke of York and The Dirty Onion, the Harp forms part of one of the liveliest pub quarters in Ireland.
The official concert venues are
Mandela Hall – hosting the Michael McGoldrick Big Band (26 July), Cherish the Ladies (26 July), Solas (31 July) and Flook (1 August).
Empire Music Hall – Barry Kerr, Pauline Scanlon & Gerry O'Beirne with CUAS (29 July), and The Bonny Men with Bríd Harper, Sylvain Barou & Libby McCrohan (30 July).
Other festival venues include The Black Box, The Lyric Theatre, Duncairn Arts Centre, Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, Redeemer Central Church and the Titanic Slipways for the giant Titanic Céilí.
www.belfasttraditionalmusic.com
www.themaclive.com
The Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
BELFAST is preparing to become the centre of the traditional Irish music world this summer as it hosts Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for the first time in the festival’s 75-year history.
From August 2 to August 9, the Northern Ireland capital is expected to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for eight days of music, song, dance and cultural celebration.
Organisers are predicting crowds of up to 800,000 people over the course of the week, making it one of the largest events ever staged in the city.
Founded by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in 1951, the Fleadh has grown from a relatively modest gathering of musicians into what is widely regarded as the world's largest annual festival of Irish traditional music, song and dance.
Each year competitors qualify through county and provincial events before advancing to the All-Ireland finals, where the best performers from Ireland and the wider diaspora compete for national honours.
While the All-Ireland competitions remain at the heart of the event, there is also an extensive programme of concerts featuring many of the best-known names in traditional music.
The concert series begins on Monday, August 3, at Belfast's Ulster Hall with a special performance marking the 50th anniversary of Ards Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Bringing together established performers and younger musicians, the evening celebrates half a century of promoting traditional music in County Down and beyond.
The following evening sees Ómós na nUltach ("A Tribute to the People of Ulster"), a concert celebrating Ulster's rich contribution to Ireland's musical heritage through instrumental music, song and dance.
On Wednesday, August 5, attention switches to the Waterfront Hall for the Meitheal Reunion Recital, reuniting former members of the celebrated Meitheal traditional music summer school orchestra in what is expected to be one of the week's musical highlights.
The Ulster Hall programme continues with an International Showcase on Thursday, August 6, demonstrating how Irish traditional music has flourished across the global Irish diaspora. Musicians from overseas Comhaltas branches will perform alongside artists from Ireland in a concert reflecting the worldwide appeal of the tradition.
Friday's Folk Orchestra concert offers a different perspective, blending traditional instruments with larger ensemble arrangements, before one of Ireland's best-loved groups, The Kilfenora Céilí Band, takes centre stage on Saturday, August 8. The Clare musicians have been entertaining audiences for more than a century and remain among the biggest attractions on the traditional music circuit.
The festival concludes on Sunday, August 9, with the prestigious Senior Céilí Band Competition at the Waterfront Hall. Long regarded as one of the most coveted titles in Irish traditional music, the competition has launched the careers of many of the country's finest musicians and provides a fitting finale to the week's celebrations.
Away from the concert halls, much of the Fleadh's atmosphere will come from its free events. Belfast City Hall will host the Gig Rig, an outdoor stage presenting live performances every day from morning until late evening, featuring established artists, emerging performers, youth groups and visiting musicians from around the world.
Across the city, pubs will host countless informal sessions while streets and public spaces fill with music, dancing and impromptu performances. Together with the official competitions and evening concerts, they promise to make Belfast the centre of the traditional music world for one remarkable week this August.
For further info visit www.ireland.com and www.visitbelfast.com
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