Stellar line-up for Ennis Trad Festival

ENNIS Trad Festival is back for the 18th year in succession and is expected to bring up to 25,000 people to the county town next month.
The event, which runs from November 10 to 14, is an extraordinary celebration of traditional music, song and dance that is both highly respected and anticipated by traditional music enthusiasts everywhere. The committee is amazed and heartened by the numbers who descend on Ennis each year from all corners of Ireland and the globe, which is testament to the high-quality music and the unforgettable craic associated with the festival.
“Top-class local musicians take part in the festival, accounting for approximately one-third of the artists. The other participating musicians come from all over Ireland and the world, including Sweden, the United States, Italy, France and more. Up to 25,000 are expected in Ennis during the festival weekend,” Ennis Trad Festival director, John Rynne revealed.
Ennis Trad Festival 2011 will feature a varied selection of concerts, céilí, CD launches, a céilí band competition, master classes, over 100 informal music sessions along with the ever-popular trad disco.
The format remains the same each year but the unending list of talented musicians provides the diversity that makes each year very unique and always memorable.
On Thursday, November 10, NicGaviskey will play at the midnight gig on Thursday night in the Queen’s Hotel. Formed at the Catskills Irish Arts Week in 2009, NicGaviskey is made up of Meath sisters, Bernadette and Caitlin NicGabhann, Sean Gavin on flute and Sean McComiskey on accordion.
On Friday, November 11 Dervish come to town and play at the Auburn Lodge Hotel. Dervish is a Sligo band that has been together for 20 years and includes Cathy Jordan on vocals, Tom Morrow (fiddle), Shane Mitchell (accordion), Liam Kelly (flute), Michael Holmes (guitar) and Brian McDonagh (mandolin and mandola).
The Auburn Lodge Hotel is also the venue for the Saturday, November 12 highlight, with Peter Browne on accordion, Toonagh’s own Michelle O’Brien on fiddle and the steady guitar genius of Arty McGlynn taking to the festival stage.
Festivities continue on Sunday, November 13 with The Raw Bar Collective at the Old Ground Hotel. The group present a vibrant and excitingly earthy style of Irish traditional music. They are anchored by Conal Ó Gráda (flute), Benny McCarthy (accordion) and Dave Sheridan (fiddle), each long recognised as among the top instrumentalists in Ireland. For their debut recording Millhouse Measure, they were joined by guests Nell Ní Chróinín (sean-nós singer) and Colm Murphy (bodhrán) and both will appear with The Raw Bar Collective for the Old Ground Hotel gig.
Furthermore, on Monday, November 14 Joe Burke, Eileen O’Brien and Arty McGlynn will play for the finale concert at The Queen’s Hotel.
This is the first time accordion maestro Joe Burke will play Ennis Trad Festival and joined by Eileen O’Brien, who will officially launch the festival the previous Thursday, along with renowned guitar man Arty McGlynn, this will be a treat for traditional music lovers.
In addition to these much anticipated concerts there is a major competition taking place. The festival’s flagship event Ard Gaisce na mBuíonta is an innovative competition for senior céilí bands.
This will be the fifth year of the competition, which takes place on the Saturday, continuing to gain popularity and praise.
Thirteen bands will compete in the event and the competition will give the audience a chance to vote alongside the panel of judges who will adjudicate on the bands from behind screens not knowing the bands’ identities until the end.
CD launches also form an integral part of the festival line-up each year and this year, Ennis Trad Festival will launch the albums of Andrew MacNamara; Tara Connaghan and Derek McGinley; Dennis Liddy; Dan Brudair and Brian Friel among others.
Master classes have an important role in passing on the music to the next generation and so this stable feature of the festival will continue. Due to the cost of putting on classes, John Rynne is asking interested students to email info@ennistradfestival.com stating which instrument they wish to receive tuition in, as well as their level of proficiency (either intermediate or advanced). The very popular sean-nós dancing and set-dancing classes also return this year. For more information, see www.ennistradfestival.com or visit the festival’s facebook page at Ennis Trad Festival.