Lightbody and Gallagher to guest as music festival celebrates 10th year

Patrol’s Gary Lightbody and The Commitments star Bronagh Gallagher will be among more than 100 musicians contributing to this year’s Atlantic Sessions Music Festival.

This is the 10th anniversary of the award-winning festival in Portstewart and Portrush, and to mark the milestone, the two north coast towns will host more than 40 free gigs.

They will take place in restaurants, hotels, pubs, coffee shops and music venues from November 15-18, with each musician playing their own music for one hour, forming a music trail across the two seaside resorts.

Programming of the festival is by Snow Water and in celebration of the 10th anniversary, guests have been invited to curate headline events — Radio 1’s Phil Taggart, Third Bar and Gary Lightbody, and broadcasters Joe Lindsay and Ralph McLean.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Lightbody said: “Atlantic Sessions is an award-winning four-day festival in Portrush and Portstewart in its tenth year that has over 50 Northern Irish bands on the bill.

“A festival with an incredible reputation for its passionate support of local talent. I am delightSNOW

Bronagh Gallagher and Gary Lightbody are part of the north coast festival

ed and honoured to have a stage at this years festival, with three of our favourite NI acts.”

The music trail will feature

artists such as singer and actress, Gallagher, Rosborough, The Wood Burning Savages, Paddy Nash, Paul Casey, Phil d’Alton, Brigid O’Neill, Toni Whitten, Ursula Burns and Waldorf & Cannon.

For the first time, this year sees the introduction of special accommodation offers for visitors throughout the festival, a new partnership with Translink, and a closer partnership with Bushmills, who will be providing drinks promotions throughout the four days.

The music festival coincides with the Causeway Coast and Glens foodie event Taste Causeway, featuring theme nights, speciality menus and food tours which showcase the impressive repertoire of local produce.