Thousands of music fans bound for city festival
Around 35,000 music fans are expected to descend on Dublin when the curtain rises on the Irish Music and Culture Festival later today.
The four-day event, celebrating the island’s traditional arts, features a rich line-up of musical performances, showcase concerts, workshops, children’s events and a photographic exhibition.
Visitors – around 10,000 of whom are jetting in from oversees – can also enjoy traditional storytelling and a lively trad and folk pub trail.
Organised by local traders, the second annual festival is designed to bring culture back into the capital’s Temple Bar quarter.
Many of Ireland’s most talented traditional musicians and singers are due to give rare Dublin performances, including Peter Horan, Gerry Harrington, Ollie Ross, Martin Quinn and Angelina Carberry.
A new feature of the 2007 programme will be the Showcase Concerts which aim to highlight young talented musicians on the traditional music scene.
The celebration of music will end on a high note with a gala concert in The Olympia Theatre with Dervish, Lunasa and Scottish singer Julie Fowlis on Sunday night.
