North Coast Folk Festival
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Guinness North Coast Folk Festival 2008 Review -
The first Guinness North Coast Folk Festival took place from Thursday 30th October to Sunday 2nd November 2008. Twenty-nine free folk music performances entertained a broad audience including local people and visitors as well as visiting musicians. The headline act of the Festival, ‘The Nuala Kennedy Quartet’ played a breathtaking set to a full capacity audience at Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, on Saturday evening, setting a standard of excellence for the music over the weekend.
Julie McLaughlin, Tourism and Marketing Officer and Festival Co-ordinator (Coleraine Borough Council), commented after the performance; “The Nuala Kennedy Quartet have been a pleasure to host as part of the festival. Nuala and her accompanying musicians have brought the quality of music here that has delighted folk enthusiasts but has also encouraged new visitors to Flowerfield. The performance here this evening combining the sound of Flowerfield’s Grand piano with the flute, acoustic guitar and accordion has surpassed many people’s expectations of what folk music is.”
Saturday evening also saw the outstanding young Lurgan group, ‘Cat Malojian’ play as part of the free folk music trail at the Cromore Halt, Portstewart to an appreciative, after dinner audience. The soothing tones of the group’s signature instrument the Banjo, was accompanied by acoustic guitar, clarinet, percussion and keyboard. Brendan Monaghan’s ‘Taylor’s Twist’ also delighted an after dinner audience at 55 Degrees North on Saturday in Portrush as the trio combined piano, Irish pipes, whistles and guitar in their consistently high calibre style of folk music.
The free folk music trail began at the Harbour Bar, Portrush on Thursday evening, delighting a cosy audience and the regular weekly Folk sessions took place in The Springhill Bar, Portrush, The Anchor, Portstewart and The Portstewart Arms. On Friday evening the trail continued with acts drawing audiences to venues across Portrush and Portstewart and in Coleraine higher volume electric folk music was happening as the Halloween Fireworks kicked off, with The Pat McManus Band putting on a raucous, live, outdoor set at the Diamond. Pat and the band continued throughout the weekend as part of the festival with a packed performance at the Anchor, Portstewart later on Friday and on Saturday evening at Beetles Bar and Bistro, Kelly’s, Portrush.
The Anchor Bar, Portstewart became a hub of musical activity, hosting five acts in all over the course of the Folk Festival weekend. Local, Ballycastle based 4 piece ‘Tannasg’ performed a set of top quality traditional Irish music along with new compositions at the Anchor in the early evening on Saturday and later that evening, Scottish Group, ‘Life O’Reilly’ played to a packed house. The fun continued at the Anchor on Sunday afternoon with the quirky, country-folk, six piece ‘The Delawares’, who played their own unique brand of music to an enthusiastic audience. Music was rounded off at the Anchor on Sunday by Belfast based ‘Venue I’ who, contrary to their young years have composed a large amount of their own material and who’s genuine passion for music became infectious during their breath – taking, fast paced set.
Carolyn McKeown, speaking on behalf of the Strands Good Food Collective, stated “The restaurants involved in the Strands Group are delighted with the success of the Folk Festival and are pleased that both good food and good music was enjoyed by audiences at venues throughout Portrush and Portstewart. We have worked closely with Coleraine Borough Council to make this event happen and we feel the timing and content of the festival were highly appropriate for the area.”
On the festival fringe, the musicians of ‘Tannasg’ were kept busy from early on Saturday morning at Flowerfield Arts Centre, where Catherine Sands co-ordinated several music workshops in Fiddle, Bodhràn and Folk Singing as well teaching the Tin-Whistle workshop. Students (from age 6+) had the opportunity to learn new musical skills, directly from tutors who are professional musicians.
Malcolm Murchison, Director of Flowerfield, stated; “Flowerfield was buzzing with music and creativity this weekend. Not only did we have the headline act of the festival, the Nuala Kennedy Quartet, perform here, but we also heard promising young musicians learning musical skills here in workshops on Saturday morning.”
Other festival fringe events took place during the course of the weekend including a free Halloween story telling session and two very well attended cookery demonstrations, sponsored by Stephen’s Catering and hosted by the Strands Good Food Collective.
The response from audiences attending performances, workshops and demonstrations over the course of this first Guinness North Coast Folk Festival has been widely positive and has prompted requests for information on more of this type of cultural event in the North Coast Area. Free weekly Folk Music sessions take place on Thursdays at the Anchor Bar Portstewart, The Springhill Bar Portrush and The Portstewart Arms.
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