Fleadh to embark on a nua path

THE world-acclaimed Kilfenora Céilí Band are lending their services to the Fleadh Nua cause with a fundraising concert to launch the programme for this year’s festival.
The focus on the Fleadh Nua this year is to inject some real life into the week-long festival in May by bringing more musicians into Ennis for sessions and concerts, as well as increasing attendance at events. Mícheál Ó Riabhaigh, chairman of Fleadh Nua, explained the festival, now in its 40th year, is based in Ennis since 1974.
“We are trying to take a different approach with the Fleadh Nua this year. With that in mind, we are getting a lot of musicians into town to play. For a number of years, the attendance and participation at the Fleadh Nua had been declining. When the Fleadh Nua started there were very few other festivals around, whereas nowadays there are in the region of 70 traditional music festivals throughout the year, with many of them in Clare,” he said.
The chairman continued, “We feel that there is a need to make the festival relevant and to keep abreast with developments of other festivals and what makes them work. More than anything, the festival needs to be interesting. So the focus this year is on bringing more musicians to play during the week in venues throughout the town. We are working with publicans in town to formulate a session timetable so that there’s a good mix of music throughout the week of the Fleadh Nua,” he said.
Along with a session timetable, they will also have a strong programme of formal performances in Glór, which Karol Lynch and Marie O’Byrne are putting together.
“During the week, we’ll also have sessions to suit all levels of musicians, from beginners right through to very accomplished players. Going way back to the early years of Fleadh Nua, it was very attractive to musicians, because there was something of a carnival atmosphere in town and we’d like to recreate that. We need to promote it more. The Fleadh Nua this year will bring a major injection of music into the town. Our aim is to bring more people from outside Clare into Ennis for performances, be it musicians or people who want to hear and see great music. This will have huge benefits for the town in general, in financial terms, as well as bringing a real buzz to town. So we are focusing on making the Fleadh Nua a real tourism event. We are working closely with Ennis Town Council to make the festival as good as possible this year,” Mícheál added.
Fleadh Nua runs from  Sunday, May 23 to Monday, May 31. The official opening will be held at Cois na hAbhna on the Sunday with a performance by Corofin Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the only CCÉ group who have been running a summer session series for visitors and tourists.
On the Friday night, the Aos Óg concert will be held in Glór. This will showcase young musicians, from 12 to 18 years, who have performed and competed at the highest level. This concert will be followed by a gig with Lúnasa. There will be a celebrity concert in Glór on Saturday, May 29 featuring musicians and singers who performed at Aos Óg concerts in Ennis in the 1970s, followed by a late-night concert with Karol Lynch’s group Guidewires.
During the day on Saturday, there will be plenty of street entertainment, with a gig rig at the O’Connell Monument where a number of groups will perform throughout the day.
The All-Ireland Scóraíocht and Pléaracha competitions will be held in the Holy Family School also on Saturday. In Cois na hAbhna on the same day, regional heats of the Comortas Rince will be held. On Sunday, there will be a gig rig at the Market with an open air céilí.
Throughout the week, organisers are also arranging for a céilí programme from Thursday to Monday night, with the first céilí in the Old Ground Hotel and in Cois na hAbhna every other night.
The Fleadh Nua will also have a good programme of free lunchtime concerts from the Monday to Thursday, May 27, with the Riches of Clare lunchtime concerts, featuring a host of well-known performers.
Ciorcal Comhrá will be held in conjunction with An Clár as Gaeilge in different cafés in the town during the week.
The programme for this year’s Fleadh Nua will be launched in Glór on Saturday, April 24 at a concert with the Kilfenora Céilí Band, which is a fundraising event for the Fleadh Nua.
Popular flute player and band member, Gary Shannon, said the entire band will be playing at this concert as well as additional players who have joined the for some recent concerts.
“The extra instruments bring in great scope for the development of music. As well as our regular band members, we will have Sharon Howley from Kilfenora on cello and Brian O’Grady from Limerick on the double bass. Their role in the band is becoming more important. We also have one of our regular band members now playing the viola. These new instruments in the band give the audience a fuller spectrum of five octaves of sound,” Gary explained.
As well as new instruments, they will also showcase some new local tunes. “We will be playing some material which is new for the band in the form of some great local tunes from North Clare. This is quaint material from North Clare which hasn’t been played for many years and will be giving our own interpretation of this music. It is really special,” he added.
Special guest performer on the night will be singer Deirdre Scanlan. “She lives in Corofin and is originally from West Limerick. She is a very powerful folk traditional vocalist. This will be her first time performing with the Kilfenora Céilí Band. We will also have a special guest dancer, who we are keeping as a surprise for the night of the show,” Gary commented.
The band will also be using an entire new lighting rig. “We have only used it once before in Clare. It improves the spectacle. We use a dry ice which shows the band in a mystical, magical hue. How the lighting reacts with the dry ice is what clinches the deal. The lights are synchronised with the musical arrangement, thereby highlighting a change in atmosphere in the music. It really adds to the general impact of the performance”.
Tickets for the launch are available from Glór at 065 6843103.