Stage set for 3-day Trad and Folk Fest!
WEXFORD is to come alive to the sound of music on March 1, as the inaugural Wexford Trad & Folk Weekend gets underway. Organised by the Wexford branch of Comhaltas, the festival promises to include some of the finest performing artists in the country, such as Liam Ó’Maonlaí, Rónán Ó’Snodaigh, Zoë Conway, John McIntyre, Máirtín O’Connor, Mark Redmond, Patrick Fitzpatrick, Louise Mulcahy and a host of other national and local groups and musicians.
The festival runs over three days at venues across Wexford town including the National Opera House, the library, the Arts Centre, St Iberius Church and various pubs around town. It features concerts, large and small, singing sessions, spoken word events and workshops.
The festival gets off to a rip-roaring start on Friday night as Liam Ó’Maonlaí takes to the Opera House stage alongside Kevin Doherty, Ciaran Tourish, James Delaney. Kila frontman Ronán Ó’Snódaigh will perform an intimate show in Macken’s, The Bullring, at 6 p.m. on Saturday night, while Zoë Conway, John McIntyre and special guest Máirtín O’Connor perform in the Opera House at 8 p.m.
Corner Boy’s Mick D’Arcy will lead a special ‘Festival Hootenany’ in The Sky & The Ground to close the Saturday evening, with some of Wexford’s finest musicians set to perform.
Sunday’s big show sees uileann piper Mark Redmond, along with multi instrumentalist Patrick Fitzpatrick, take over St Iberius Church at 3 p.m.
This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg and the extensive festival programme promises something for everyone in a mixture of music, song and craic. Many of the concerts and events are free but may require advance booking.
For the full programme of events, see www.wexfordtradandfolk.com.