Hands across the sea as Folk Fest brings an international flavour
THE Dingle Folk Festival brought together international and West Kerry musicians to provide a weekend of top quality music.
Pairing Dingle Musicians with international guests was central to the festival, with Eilís Ni Chinneide welcoming Fire and Grace, a violin and guitar duo of Edwin Huizinga and William Coulter. Meanwhile, Pauline Scanlon – Eilís’s partner in the vocal group Lumina – lent her dulcet tones to the multi-talented Atlantic Arc Orchestra in the headline concert on Saturday night. The Orchestra is a collaboration of Irish, Scottish and Breton musicians under the direction of maestro Donal Lunny.
Eilís previously collaborated with Grammy award winning guitarist William Coulter on her recordings Westwards and. William is not the first Coulter to play music in West Kerry – his brother Steve spent many years in Dingle and apart from setting up the weekly concerts that still continue in St. James’s Church, he will be remembered for playing the harp on the top of the Conor Pass.
Organisers Dara Herlihy and Matt Griffin said they were “delighted with the weekend”. This is the second year of the folk festival which according to Dara “is a go ahead for next year”.
“We are already in negotiations with bands and we are checking other weekends in the year as the middle of October is a difficult weekend,” he said.
The main concerts were supported by a music trail which ran in the pubs around the town from midday until evening on Saturday and Sunday.
Not content to rest for the winter, Dara has recently taken a lease on Neligan’s pub in Main Street , Dingle (formerly the Mighty Session).