Trad’s top talent flocks to Foxford

An extravaganza of music and song is to ring out along the banks of the River Moy next weekend as one of the fastest-growing traditional music festivals anywhere in the country takes place across four days and nights in Foxford.

From this Thursday, October 19 to Sunday, October 22, a town and its hinterland that is renowned in its own right for producing some of Ireland’s finest exponents of Irish music, will bring together a gathering of some of the very best traditional artists from across Mayo, Connacht and beyond.

There are no fewer than 25 separate events planned for the four-day Foxford Traditional Weekend, which is a cultural smorgasbord of music, song and dance.

First held in 2015, the festival has garnered a reputation for attracting some of the best-known, best-respected, best-in-class artists to Foxford every October – and this year is no exception to the rule.

Among the highlights this year will be a pair of fabulous concerts taking place across two nights.

This Friday, FullSet take the stage at the Moy Hotel. When this six-piece first hit the scene they were immediately likened to legendary supergroups Danú and Altan before the Irish Music Association decided to award FullSet ‘Top Traditional Group’ in their own right.

The concert will represent a rare opportunity for FullSet’s lead singer – and Foxford resident – Marianne Knight to perform in front of a home crowd, given the band is regularly on tour throughout Europe and the USA.

A year that began with them appearing at the famed Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow in January will end with them travelling to perform in Madrid this November.

But FullSet are just one act of what is a sensational Friday night line-up in the Moy Hotel, as they are to be joined by Piper’s Cross who in August became the first céilí band from Mayo to be crowned All-Ireland senior champions in the 72-year history of Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. Accordion maestro PJ Hernon will also perform tunes from his newest CD ‘Back to my Roots’ while the night will be capped by a special performance from the Mayo Trad Ensemble who as recently as July, performed on stage with the iconic Máirtín O’Connor, Cathal Hayden and Seamie O’Dowd trio at the Connacht Fleadh.

Tickets for the concert are €18 or €10 for under-18s.

An equally exciting night of music is planned for the Féile Concert next Saturday night, also in the Moy Hotel.

We Banjo 3 fiddler Fergal Scahill, Ryan Molloy and Foxford’s own Patrick Doocey – who this year performed with The Chieftains for Joe Biden upon the US President’s visit to Ballina – are sure to set the room rocking.

The O’Donnell Family from nearby Aclare, Colm, Seamus, Siobhán and Eoin, have their own inimitable style that always delights, and adding to the quality of the night will be performances by Holly Geraghty, Sean Lynch, the Moffatt School of Dance and the Mayo Music Generation Harp Ensemble.

Tickets for the Féile Concert are €15 or €5 for under-18s.

Earlier that evening, between 6.30pm and 7.30pm in the intimate surrounds of the Church of Ireland, there is also a concert featuring the outstanding fiddler Méabh Smyth, TG4’s current Young Musician of the Year, who is joined by sean nós dancer Edwina Guckian and the aforementioned Patrick Doocey on guitar. Admission is €10.

There is also, of course, a whole list of events to attend that are completely free of charge, like the numerous gigs on a session trail simply dripping with All-Ireland champions and household names in the world of traditional music, like Caitlín Nic Gabhann (Guiry’s, 9.30pm, Friday), Mark Burke, Eimear Howley and Cathal Corbett (Jordan’s, 9pm, Saturday) and Foxford’s very own Stephen Doherty (Riverbank, 5.30pm, Sunday), to name only a few.

The Foxford Traditional Weekend will commence in style this Thursday, October 19, with Teen Trad’ a showcase of talented teenage musicians (Cruiser’s, 6pm) and the ever-popular Rambling House (Moy Hotel, 8pm).

Daytime on Saturday is dominated by the music workshops taking place at Foxford National School in the company of an array of expert tutors, while in Foxford Woollen Mills audiences will be treated to a lunchtime recital from the Mayo Harp Ensemble and Gráinne Hambly.

For the early risers on Sunday, ‘Trad for Tots’ is at 11.30am in the Moy Hotel, a collaboration between Foxford’s own trad musicians and the Foxford Brass and Reed Band can be heard from 1pm in Foxford Woollen Mills and there’s a junior session at 3pm in Cruiser’s.

For full details and bookings, visit www.foxfordtraditionalweekend.com.