A few years ago, I had the pleasure of chairing a discussion and book launch between Cal Flyn and Kerri ni Dochartaigh as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich.
Derry-born Kerri had written the magical Thin Places, a memoir which explores “how nature kept her sane and helped her heal”.
According to Eric Weiner, writing in the New Yorker, Thin Places are “locales where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we’re able to catch glimpses of the divine, or the transcendent”.
Cal’s book, Islands of Abandonment, was about how nature carries on and even thrives in places which humans have abandoned for one reason or another.
I thought of both books when I saw the programme for the Winter Weekend, another thrilling instalment of Belfast Tradfest, the outpouring of traditional music which has lit up Belfast’s city centre for the past seven or eight years.
The city has become a shadow of its former self, thanks to the Troubles, and latterly, online shopping but like the plants growing in Cyprus’s no-man’s-land or the wildlife of Chernobyl, Tradfest has shown that a cultural life can thrive in what seems to be a city centre now decimated by ‘the market’.
And given the quality of the musicians and singers who grace our venues, when the music rises to meet its audience, then Eric Weiner’s quote about the “distance between heaven and earth collapsing” comes into play again.
Yes, I’m looking at you Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Mick O’Brien, Máiréad Ní Mhaonaigh, Bríd Harper and every one of the Bothy Band.
So, empty the diary between February 23 and 25 when Belfast TradFest’s third annual Winter Weekend will restore your faith in humanity with a programme filled with internationally renowned talent in traditional Irish and Scottish music, song and dance.
It’s not for nothing that Belfast has been designated a Unesco City of Music and as well as the concerts there are workshops and sessions over the weekend.
- Trad: Ralph McTell's English heart and Irish soulOpens in new window
- The Lost Brothers's Oisin Leech on solo single October Sun and shows with Dónal LunnyOpens in new window
- Trad legends The Bothy Band on getting the music ‘up to scratch’ and lighting the spark for once-in-a-lifetime concertsOpens in new window
The opening concert features Donegal fiddle maestra and songstress Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh who brings her band Altan back to Belfast to play the Empire Music Hall on Friday February 23.
(Also on the bill that evening, Monaghan Harp genius Michael Rooney plays a rare solo set in the city famed for its Harp Festival of 1792.)
Also from Donegal but a longtime Tyrone resident, fiddler Bríd Harper is being celebrated with a family-friendly concert on Saturday February 24 in the Mandela Hall and featuring the cream of traditional musicians and singers such as Australian guitarist Steve Cooney, Donegal accordion wizard Dermot Byrne, Breton flute player Sylvain Barou, singer Rita Gallagher and many more.
Such is the esteem Bríd is held in, the venue was moved to the Mandela Hall to cope with the demand for tickets.
Personally, I always thought that the obsession with Shane MacGowan’s teeth and his legendary carousing took away from the fact that he was one of Ireland’s greatest songwriters. (Okay, his singing was a bit dodgy but we’ll forgive him that...)
Therefore it’s great to see that the Winter Weekend is staging The Songs of Shane MacGowan, when the London-Irishman’s work will be celebrated and performed by a selection of some of our finest singers, featuring Andrew Hendy and Finnian O’Connor (of The Mary Wallopers), Monaghan singer Dani Larkin, Lough Neagh’s Niall Hanna, Belfast’s own Duke Special, Crossmaglen rising star Piaras Ó Lorcáin, Co Derry’s Jack Warnock and Castlewellan native Múlú.
As director Dónal O’Connor says: “Connecting the sound and spirit of punk with his traditional Irish roots, Shane created one of the most distinctive sounds of the past 40 years and Belfast TradFest are delighted to present these songs with some of Ulster and Ireland’s finest traditional, folk and contemporary singers.”
Other highlights feature concerts with Ciarán & Caitlín, Mick O’Brien and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and a full programme of Festival Club events with acts such as Sligo’s Niamh Farrell, Jos Kelly and Cillian Doheny.
The Winter Weekend is also hosting the annual Highland Piping Solo Competition at The Deer’s Head on Sunday February 25.
A selection of Ireland’s top pipers will compete for a place in the renowned MacCrimmon Trophy Competition which takes place annually at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany. The fantastic new Ulster University building on York Street will host workshops covering all instruments from bodhrán and banjo to smallpipes and singing.
These will be delivered by some of the best traditional musicians from Ireland, Scotland and beyond. Beginners can also join in the fun with classes in traditional singing, Sean Nós singing (unaccompanied singing in Irish) with Róisín Chambers and Gráinne Holland, whistle and sing (ages five-plus), Sean Nós dancing with legendary Conamara dancer Seosamh Ó Neachtáin and set dancing with Ulster’s own Mary Fox.
The festival’s afternoon events will include album launches and a talk by the Rev Gary Hastings on the Lambeg Drum and Fife: Traditional Music of Ulster.
Recently retired as a rector in the Church of Ireland, Gary’s musical background takes in the traditions of Fermanagh, Donegal and Antrim, and he has written and lectured widely on the Lambeg and fifing traditions associated with Orangeism.
I’m not sure what the Brethren would think about another festival highlight, the lively Dunville’s Irish Whiskey Session Trail which will take you across the city to some of Belfast’s oldest and best-loved pubs including Madden’s Bar, The Garrick, The John Hewitt, The Sunflower, The Duke of York and Hatfield House.
Sessions are free, and times are staggered (as might be some of the attendees...) so that traditional music fans can fit in as much ‘ceol agus craic’ as possible.
But hey, we’ve left the best wine until the end. The most influential Irish trad band of all time, The Bothy Band, are reforming and playing their first Irish concert since 1979, in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall (sold out) on Sunday February 25.
This concert will be one of the most anticipated in living memory, featuring a who’s who of Irish music: Matt Molloy (The Chieftains), Donal Lunny (Planxty, Moving Hearts), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (Skara Brae), Kevin Burke (Patrick Street), Paddy Glackin (Ushers Island) and uilleann pipe supremo Paddy Keenan.
Belfast will definitely become a thin place next month.
