October 11th –19th, 2013
www.celtic-colours.com

Cape Breton musicians celebrated overseas, honoured at home.

Though Cape Breton Island is in the depths of winter, there is lots of musical activity to keep Celtic Colours’ staff moving.
In January, Celtic Colours’ Artistic Direction team of Joella Foulds and Dawn Beaton headed to Glasgow and Dublin to present the extremely well–received showcase A Taste of Celtic Colours.  Cape Breton artists Cyril MacPhee, Kimberley Fraser and the Mary Jane Lamond and Wendy MacIsaac band hosted Irish friends Nuala Kennedy and Liz Doherty at Dublin City Hall during Temple Bar TradFest, while Kennedy, Mairi Smith, and David Milligan and Corrina Hewat joined in at Glasgow’s Tron Theatre during Celtic Connections.
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www.johnnydohertyfestival.com or www.ardara.ie

September 26th – 29th, 2013

Celebrating its 5th anniversary, this festival is going from strength–to  –strength. It all kicks–off this year on Thursday, September 26th with the unveiling, at the Diamond, Main Street, Ardara, of a sculpture dedicated to the fiddle legend Johnny Doherty. This stunning sculpture was commissioned by the Ardara Comhaltas branch and was sculpted by Redmond Herrity.
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September 5th – 8th, 2013

www.gignthebann.com

Now in its fourteenth year the Portglenone Cross Cultural Music and Dance Festival has firmly established itself as one of the premier and much anticipated events on the annual festival calendar. It is attended by people from the locality, from the length and breadth of Ireland and from as far away as Canada and the USA. The festival has built a reputation for offering a highly impressive line–up of top performers spanning Traditional, Scottish, Gospel and Folk Music circles.
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August 14th –18th, 2013

www.martinhayes.com/mot.htm

The 11th Masters of Tradition programme will be announced in April!

The 2013 Masters of Tradition will open its doors to the very best musicians in the land, presenting a series of performances that cover the full spectrum of Irish traditional music, in its most authentic form. Many of Ireland’s foremost traditional musicians have performed at the festival since it began in 2002. Previous performers include; Liam O’Flynn; Moya Brennan and Cormac De Barra; Steve Cooney; Kevin Crawford from Lúnasa; Brendan Begley; Susan McKeown; Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill; Donal Lunny and so many more.
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www.gradam.ie

An independent panel of adjudicators selects recipients of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil each year. Recipients are presented with a specially– commissioned piece by sculptor John Coll as well as a stipend.

Donegal accordion maestro Dermot Byrne heads the list of recipients of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil 2013 (Traditional Music Awards). Born and raised in Buncrana in the north–east of the county, his roots stretch to the Teelin Gaeltacht in the south–west and his musical tastes range far and wide. He has been one of the country’s top box players since his teenage years and has been a long–serving member of the internationally renowned group Altan as well as performing regularly with the top names in traditional music and releasing solo recordings too.
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www.irishmusicholidays.com

The Online Academy of Irish Music is to host a series of Irish music retreats in Liscannor, Co. Clare this summer 2013. These retreats consists of daily group workshops, master classes, trips to local traditional music sessions and concerts. Time is also allocated to relax, sightsee and partake in many activities the area of West Clare has to offer. B&B and evening meals are included in the package.
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www.musicnetwork.ie

Music Network presents a dream tour that brings together the dazzling talents of three of the country’s finest traditional musicians; button accordion master Máirtín O’Connor, fiddle player Zoë Conway and guitar and bouzouki player Donal Lunny from May 7th – 14th. Music Network tours provide a wonderful opportunity to see some of the world’s foremost musicians at affordable prices in venues around Ireland, and are presented in association with RTÉ lyric fm. Music Network is funded by the Arts Council.
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August 7th–12th, 2013

www.feaklefestival.ie

The 26th Annual Music Festival takes place from Wednesday August 7th to Monday August 12th. This year the organisers are holding a fringe Festival from Monday August 5th to Wednesday August 7th.

The theme of the fringe Festival is “The Therapeutic Benefits of Set-Dancing for Parkinson Disease sufferers.” This will be guided by Dr. Daniel Volpe from Venice. Dr. Volpe has done extensive studies on the subject.
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July 29th – August 5th, 2013

www.ocarolanharpfestival.ie

The dates for the 35th O’Carolan Harp and Traditional Music Festival in Keadue, Co. Roscommon have been announced.

The Festival which is held under the auspices of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann takes place over the August Bank Holiday weekend from July 29th–August 5th.
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July 27th – August 3rd, 2013

www.scoilacla.com

The annual Scoil Acla summer school takes place on Achill Island, Co. Mayo. Scoil Acla is Irelands oldest summer school, originally founded in 1910 and re–launched in 1985. Scoil Acla follows the usual format of daily music classes which run from Monday to Saturday on the following instruments, accordion, banjo, flute, concertina, fiddle, harp, tin whistle, uilleann pipes and bodhrán with beginners, intermediate and advanced students being catered for on all instruments.
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