The ninth Return to Camden Town Festival of Irish traditional music, dance
and song, will take place in October 2007. The Festival opens on Friday
19th October 2007 and runs until Sunday 28th October. Final programme is
still to be confirmed, but we are delighted to be able to announce that
legendary band Patrick Street will be headlining the opening night concert
on Friday 19th.

The band is due to release a new album in September - the first one
featuring latest band member, multi-instrumentalist John Carty (who
appeared with London’s great flute player James Carty at the 2006 Festival
concert to launch James’ new album). John was born in London, but moved to
Ireland in early 1990’s. He is a rarity amongst musicians; he plays a right
handed fiddle left-handed - not only is he highly accomplished on the
fiddle, but he is also an excellent banjo and flute player.

The band includes several musicians from the Who’s Who of Irish traditional
music - the magnificent fiddle playing of Kevin Burke (ex Bothy Band, Open
House), button accordion wizardry from Jackie Daly (ex De Dannan), haunting
vocals and multi-instrumental talents of Andy Irvine (ex Planxty) plus
solid, tasty guitar playing and vocals from Ged Foley (formerly of
Battlefield Band and the House Band) and, of course, John Carty’s skills on
the flute, fiddle and banjo.

Seminal accordion player Joe Burke appears in concert on Thursday 25th
October. Joe can justifiably be described as a living legend within the
tradition; his international touring has spanned over forty years and has
included venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Many great
accordion players cite Joe as a major influence on their playing, and with
good reason.

Joe, Brian Conway and Felix Dolan recorded a live album in Chicage last
year as a tribute to the late, great Sligo/New York fiddler Andy McGann.
The album is due to be realeased this summer.

Other featured artists include Teada and Le Cheile, Enda Scahill and Ryan
Molloy.

Dancers are well catered for, with ceilis by the Abbey Ceili Band and the
Four Star Trio and workshops with Pádraig and Roisín McEneaney.

The ever popular instrumental workshops feature some excellent tutors this
year:

Fiddle; Kevin Burke and Ben Lennon
Accordion: Jackie Daly
Mandolin: Mick O’Connor
Banjo: Enda Scahill
Whistle: Brian Finnegan

A particlularly noteworthy event at this year’s festival will be the
launching of Reg Hall’s long-awaited book on The History of Irish Music in
London. Nobody knows more about this topic than Reg. He has played with
virtually all the great Irish musicians in London during over 40 years and
has built up a comprehensive archive of written and recorded material.
Anyone who has attended his illustrated lectures on the subject cannot fail
to appreciate the depth of his knowledge, his enthusiasm and love for the
music and the musicians and his desire to ensure that this valuable chapter
in the history of Irish culture in England is preserved for the future.

For further information: www.returntocamden.org