Wexford prepares for Trad & Folk Weekend
Click here for full programme
Wexford Trad & Folk Weekend takes place next weekend (Feb 27 - March 1). It features a feast of great concerts, sessions, lectures and workshops. As last year there is a jam-packed programme.
Peter Browne, former presenter of RTE Radio 1's The Rolling Wave, will be joined by Mayor, Cllr George Lawlor, for the launch of a busy weekend programme at Wexford Library on Thursday, Feb 27 (7pm). Peter presents an illustrated lecture entitled 'Tuning the Radio' in which he looks at the relationship between radio broadcasting and traditional music in Ireland since 1926.
After the talk everyone will head across to the Thomas Tavern for the first seisiún cheoil of the weekend. Expect a few special guests to show up.
The opening concert of the festival takes place at the National Opera House and features the amazing Zoë Conway (fiddle) and John McIntyre (guitar) with special guest John Sheahan. Zoë was invited back to Wexford following her stunning show last year at which she had Wexford audiences in raptures with the virtuosity of her playing. This concert is nearly sold out.
Fiddle maestro, composer and poet John Sheahan is the last surviving member of The Dubliners' original lineup. Over the years he has performed with everyone from The Pogues and Kate Bush to Terence Trent D’Arby and André Rieu. In recent years he has toured with Damien Dempsey and Declan O'Rourke under the banner 'The New Triangle'. As well as performing with Zoë and John, he will joins writer Dermot Bolger the following day for an intimate morning show. Expect reminiscences, stories, poetry and maybe a tune or three.
The sensational singer and bouzouki-player Daoirí Farrell is one of the hottest properties in Irish folk and trad music right now. His album ‘True Born Irishman’ won him two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017 for Best Newcomer, and Best Traditional Track and he has been described by Donal Lunny as "one of the most important traditional singers to emerge in the last decade". He performs a solo show at Wexford Arts Centre (Sat, Feb 29) and a two-hander concert at St Iberius Church on Sun, March 1 (3pm) with Wexford's much lauded uilleann piper Mark Redmond.
Co Wexford Traditional Singers will be singing into the small hours Friday night at the wonderfully intimate and always welcoming Mary's Bar.
On Saturday afternoon 'Traditional Song and Folklore in Ireland' is the title of a FREE event at Wexford Arts Centre. Presented by Aileen Lambert and Michael Fortune the hour-long event will combine live performances with an audio-visual presentation focusing on some of the song and folklore projects they have worked on over the past 15 years.
The Festival Hootenanny at The Sky & The Ground will feature a bunch of top-notch singers and musicians including Rónán Ó Snodaigh, Fran Greene, Alice Lynskey, J eoin, Cursed Murphy Versus The Resistance. Guaranteed to end your Saturday on a musical high!
Peter Browne is the former presenter of RTE Radio 1 programme The Rolling Wave. Peter, who has strong family connections in Wexford, has the honour of opening the festival when he presents a not-to-be-missed talk at Wexford Library on Thursday evening.
Music Generation Wexford supported workshops take place at CBS Secondary School Saturday morning. Zoë Conway (fiddle) and John McIntyre (guitar) will be joined by some of the top names in trad music: Tom Doorley (flute), Rónán Ó Snodaigh (bodhrán), Pádraig McGovern (uilleann pipes), Peter Browne (accordion), Niamh Parsons (song) and Eilís Lavelle (harp). Those attending workshops get free admission to the Tutors' Concert (2pm) at St Iberius Church. (Booking details for workshops at top of the page in left-hand column.)
Between lunchtime, afternoon and evening concerts and sessions, workshops, lectures, pop-up Gaeltacht, historical tours of the town, the festival will more than sate the appetite of music lovers. There will be a big focus on the music of Wexford and on the great crop of young Wexford musicians that is coming through.
Wexford Trad & Folk Weekend is supported by Wexford County Council, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Wexford Music Generation, Dept. of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia ... and, most importantly, YOU! Bígí linn agus bain taitneamh as ceol agus amhránaíocht tradisiúnta álainn i rith na deireadh seachtaine!
Registration Form for Workshops can be downloaded Here- Once you have paid for your workshop (above on the left) please download and return to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you are averse to using Paypal please contact Niall on 087 839 1420 to reserve your place.
Read a report on last year's inaugural Wexford Trad & Folk Weekend..
