The Drogheda Traditional Music Weekend which takes place during the last weekend in November, will this year celebrate its 22nd year. The festival features a programme of traditional music and places a special focus on traditional singing. It takes place in a number of cultural and historic locations in Drogheda.
The Termonfeckin Set Dancers will lead a popular dance class as part of the Drogheda Traditional Music Weekend in The Morning Star on Thursday, with excellent tuition and live music performance from Seamus and Fidelma Bellew. Tickets will be available on the door at The Morning Star, Tullyallen with dancing starting at 9pm.
Friday will see as part of this year’s Drogheda Traditional Music Weekend, a special concert for primary schools featuring Zoë Conway, John McIntyre and Mick O’Brien. This concert will commence at 10.30am in the Droichead Arts Centre, Stockwell Street.
Then in the evening at 8pm there will be a Headline Concert in honour of the late Caitlin Bean ui Cairbre. It will feature Mick O’Brien on Uilleann Pipes, Tom Morrow on Fiddle and Seamus Brett on Keyboard with the award winning Ward Sisters (Lisa, Yvonne, and Sarah) and local singers and musicians Kevin Branigan and Garret Brady.
At 12.30pm on Saturday, local historian, Noel Bailey will give an historical talk on the Tholsel and other historical buildings in Drogheda. The talk will be held in the Tholsel Building in West Street.
On Saturday 4.30pm in the unique location of the Martello Tower at Millmount will be Trad in the Tower. This will be an intimate concert with Limerick sisters and multi-instrumentalists, Michelle and Louise Mulcahy with local musicians Síofra Devine.
The Traditional Singing Concert this year is being hosted by The Morning Star, which is one of the oldest pubs in Co. Louth. It will commence at 7.30pm with tickets available on the door. Anticipate an intimate concert featuring some Ireland’s highly regarded traditional singers including Sean Faulkner, Gilly Cullen, Joe Gallagher and Derek Williamson.
Sunday afternoon at 2pm will see the exclusive launch of Gerry O’Connor’s new album Last Night’s Fun taking place in the Droichead Arts Centre, Stockwell Street. Long known as Gerry ‘Fiddle’ O’Connor, this is one fiddler whose pulse is quickened by the sheer delight in the tunes. As a fourth-generation fiddle player, he knows the value of the shared tune. On this his 2nd solo recording, Gerry draws from a wide range of sources and the album features a veritable who’s who of traditional music.
Later on in the afternoon there will be the Annual Singing Session hosted by Paddy Brannigan. It will start at 4pm in the Droichead Arts Centre, Stockwell Street. Admission to this event is free.
As part of the weekends events there will be Music Instrument Workshops held on Saturday in Millmount, starting at 11am. The Workshops and Tutors will be for Fiddle: Michelle Mulcahy and for Flute: Louise Mulcahy. Both Workshops are for Intermediate to Advanced Students. The cost per student is €10.
For full details and further information about this years Drogheda Traditional Music Weekend please visit droichead.com or follow on Facebook where you can make bookings online for events. If you have any queries, then please either call +353 (0)41 983 3946 or send an email to [email protected]
