Music and dancing for Nell Galvin Festival

THE ninth Nell Galvin Festival will take place in Moyasta from this Friay to Sunday.
Mary Haugh is involved with the organisation of the festival and she said one of the founders of the festival will be honoured.
“The highlights will be the opening and on Saturday, the unveiling of the memorial to Peadar Crotty, our late chairman and one of the founding members of the Nell Galvin committee. He died two years ago on August 19. The memorial is in the form of a seat and it’s being sculpted by Mike McTigue. There’s a little table as well. There’s something quite like it in Sixmilebridge.”
Mary said many musicians will be playing on Friday night as the festival gets underway. “On Friday night we’re starting off with Frank Custy and his group. Then we will have the official opening by Joe Taylor, our own Moyasta man. After that we’ll have sessions with Vincent Griffin, Conor McCarthy, Yvonne Casey, Danny O’Mahony, Davy Lavine and John Kelly. Then from 10.30pm or 11pm we’ll have a céilí and that’ll be at Garrihy’s bar in Moyasta.”
Free classes will be available on Saturday. “The big thing on Saturday is free music classes in Moyasta school. You have tin whistle, fiddle, flute, brush dancing, sean nós dancing, concertina and set dancing. Registration will start at 10.45am and the classes will be from 11am until about 4pm, when the unveiling is taking place. On Saturday evening there are sessions all over. They’ll start with Anne Hayes and her group and there will be several other people joining in.”
There will also be plenty of events on Sunday. “On Sunday morning you have mass in Lisdeen church at 9.30am. That’ll be followed by a visit to Nell Galvin’s grave, if the weather permits. The sessions commence again at 2pm at Garrihy’s bar with Kevin Crawford, Tony Linnane, Mick Crehan, Angela Crotty and Jed Foley and numerous other musicians,” said Mary.
There will also be a céilí on Sunday evening and an exhibition of set dancing.