Kilkenny TradFest 2018

Kilkenny Tradfest, now in its sixth year, will present traditional music, song, dance and contemporary folk over the St Patrick’s Day weekend at various venues across Kilkenny City including St. Canice’s Cathedral and Kilkenny Castle.

The headline act for this year’s TradFest is one of Ireland’s legendary musicians and singers, Finbar Furey who will take to the stage in St. Canice’s Cathedral on Friday at 7pm.

Over the course of the weekend there will be performances by Moxie, The Bonny Men, Ye Vagabond, Jiggy, Caladh Nua, Scullion, Brian Kennedy, Máirtín O’Connor, Zoë Conway & Dónal Lunny, The Remedy Club, Notify and The Henry Girls

Amongst the highlights of the festival will be the Bulmers Trad Trail, which features numerous free gigs spread around the pubs and venues of Kilkenny.

For all those interested in the Uilleann Pipes there is the ‘Meet the Maker – A Celebration of UNESCO Recognition for Uilleann Piping’  where musician and master craftsman Mickey Dunne will be discussing the crafting and playing of the uilleann pipes.

Monday will be a day of musical learning with a series of workshops/masterclasses. There will be a Drumming Workshop for Kids with Jeremy Hickey; Sean Nós Dancing – workshop with Sibéal Davitt; Drumming for Adults – workshop with Jeremy Hickey; Accordion Masterclass with Máirtín O’Connor; Bouzouki Masterclass with Dónal Lunny and a Fiddle Masterclass with Zoë Conway.

There will be a mixture of free and ticketed events, some of the free events require tickets. For tickets and full details of all events please visit kilkennytradfest.com.