Record numbers for winter music festival

This year’s Shannonside Winter Music weekend was the most successful in the festival’s 14-year history, according to festival chairman Brendan Walsh.

With full houses at the three concerts venues, the Shannonside Winter Music Weekend is fast becoming a music event on a par with the best in the country.

“It’s really amazing how the weekend has taken off, most particularly in the past few years since we broadened it out to include Bunratty,” said Brendan.

“There is such a mix of music genres that there is ‘something for everyone in the audience’ and, thanks to the Sixmilebridge Folk Club’s roving musicians, who have played the length and breadth of Ireland in 2012 spreading the word and the tunes of Clare, news has filtered out that Sixmilebridge is the place to be in January each year,” he added.

Among the line-up this year were Grammy Award nominees Special Consensus, a four-piece bluegrass band from the US, whose Scratch Gravel Road CD is up for Bluegrass Album of the Year.

Bulgarian band Lilly of the West, whose recent CD was nominated in the top four for 2012 by the legendary country music singer and critic Tom Travis were a big hit as were Dublin band I Draw Slow, who played last year’s festival, signed with an American label in 2012, completed a US tour, and were hailed Stateside as releasing one of the best CDs of the year.

“This is just another testament to the high quality acts this acoustic roots festival continually attracts,” added Brendan, who already has his sights on another selection of top acts for the 2014 winter music weekend.

This year’s roster also included the Alan Kelly Gang and Shaskeen playing traditional Irish, Gypsy Rebel Rabble playing rocka-hillbilly, Swell Berries playing swing, and the multinational Diversus Guitar Ensemble playing modern classical.

“As well as attracting high quality musicians to Clare, this year’s record attendance brought much-needed tourism revenue to the county in a month normally associated with ‘staying in’ and austerity.

“The local hotels and guesthouses were all full, pubs were packed to capacity, and hot food was welcome wherever it was available. The festival is aimed at local, national and international audiences and we will increase our marketing effort to encourage even higher visitor numbers in 2014,” explained Mr Walsh.