A CELEBRATION of European dance, music and song will be held in Ennis this summer as the county capital has been chosen to play host to the 18th European Culture Week.
The five day festival will start in Ennis on August 8. The festival is a celebration of European cultures with eight groups participating from seven European countries.
The participating groups are travelling to Shannon Airport from France, Spain, Sardinia, South Tyrol in Italy, Romania, Lithuania and Hungary. Ireland will be represented at the festival by Clanna Mileadha- a group of musicians, dancers and singers based predominantly in County Clare.
The European Culture Week is bi-annual festival which returns this summer to Ennis for the first time since 2002 following a two year delay due to Covid restrictions.
This festival’s history is particularly special as it was founded in 1986 to promote friendships across cultures and regions within Europe.
These groups are coming together to celebrate their unique individuality. Each country is showcasing their culture through the medium of music and dance. Clanna Mileadha this year welcomes the opportunity to promote County Clare and Ireland as a tourist destination.
Throughout the week there will be concerts, street performances and a European Artisan Market. Engagement and interactions are central to the core of this festival whose objective is to create friendships through a shared love of music, song and dance. To this end each group performs at every event and each group will also be very keen to chat with locals.
There are opportunities for the groups to learn music, songs and dances from each other and also for spectators to participate with the performances.
The performances are vibrant celebrations of music, song and dance. With a new group performing every 10-15 minutes the diversity of the concerts is enchanting.
Each group dresses in their traditional dress costume. These costumes vary greatly and are beautiful intricate creations. The music and dances are very different from our Irish traditional culture though the occasional similarity is intriguing to notice.
A sample programme is available to view on the website and follow Facebook and Instagram accounts for regular updates at enniseuropeancultureweek2022.