Life gets a hell of a lot easier when you don’t have too many tough choices to make and in that regard, this weekend is a doddle. There are two really good festivals happening on the Western Seaboard this weekend, the best on offer in the country this week, and to make the selection process even easier still, one will feature some belting banjos while the other will have a blast of bassoon. Here’s the scéal…
United Nations of tunes – General Social Scene
Shannonside Midwinter Music Festival – click this link to visit website
Sixmilebridge Folk Club have hit upon a very simple recipe for this festival – high quality acoustic music. It’s obvious when you visit this festival that it’s organised by people who love music and the reason they organise this festival is to share some wonderful music with a larger audience than can fit into their regualr year round venue of The Courthouse in the town. Organising this festival also affords them the opportunity to bring in some top quality acts from around the world for the weekend, making this small town festival an event that boxes well above it’s weight.
Shit Kickers & Country Pickers
High Plains Tradition are a Bluegrass band that have been flown in from Colorado and they are one of the best American Roots bands you’re likely to see in Ireland this year. Compagnie Maribel from Perpignan in southern France are a group of 15 folklore performers who present music, song, dance and costumes from the traditions of ancient parts of Spain and France. They are just two of more than twenty acts who’ll be in Sixmilebridge over the weekend. As well as performing in venues around the town, all day Saturday the festival takes over Bunratty Folk Park, installing acts in the castle and in venues around the park, giving famalies and day trippers a chance to sample the high quality performances. If you like music, this festival is for you. Here’s what I had to say about last year’s outing – Shannonside Winter Music Festival Post
Thumpin’ choons in Bunratty
Galway Midwinter Festival – click this link to visit website
A little further up the road is another festival for music lovers, but this affair is a little more high falutin. The Birth of Modern Music is the theme for this years event and it will feature works from Debussy, Schoenberg and Stravinsky, alongside contemporary ‘old-style’ masterworks by Brahms, Fauré and Vaughan Williams. The performers at this event are of the highest possible calibre and I was lucky enough to catch The Amstel Saxophone Quartet when I visited this festival before, a wonderful ensemble and concert. The performers have been shipped in from around Ireland and Europe for a weekend of music that will be truly special for those who get to experience it. It’s not as populist as what’s happening down in Clare, but the quality of the event is just as good, if not arguably better. When it comes to festivals, we’re kinda spoilt for choice. Here’s what I wrote about this festival the last time I attended – Galway Midwinter Voices Post
Amstel – Nice river, fine beer and wonderful saxophone quartet
They’re the best of what’s on offer this weekend and it’s truly a case of quality over quantity. I’ll be heading for Sixmilebridge, just hope my spot behind the undertakers is free to park up Wanderly Wagon for the night. It’s a peaceful spot!
Safe Travels, Don’t Die 🙂
A Year of Festivals in Ireland 
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