The Dubliners warm up at the reception of the Tradfest 2012 launch at Dublin City Hall.
Now in its seventh year Temple Bar TradFest is a firm favourite on the festival calendar and brings to Dublin City Centre a real celebration of Irish music and culture each January. Kicking off on 25 January the 2012 programme includes over 200 free events including free music performances on the two outdoor stages in Temple Bar on Saturday and Sunday.
In 2011 60,000 people visited the festival. The festival takes place over 5 days and nights and features more than 23 venues and over 900 performers.
The 2012 festival will include headline concerts in Christ Church Cathedral Dublin, Dublin City Hall and The Button Factory. Other highlights include over 200 free events, music trail, singers club, open sessions, two outdoor stages, the international Celtic Irish Dance Show, master classes and showcases, gigs for kids, children’s club, cultural workshops, pipe bands and street performers.
Meath Beo (a collective of traditional festivals from Co.Meath led by the Scurlogstown Olympiad group) will transform Temple Bar and its surrounding streets into a rural wonderland. Audiences can experience a taste of the country in the city as a rural village will be temporarily erected on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th of January where workshops such as buttermaking and woodturning will take place in traditional Irish thatch cottages, people can also enjoy an animal farm. Audiences should also keep their eyes open for the TradFest matchmaker, rural villagers cycling their high Nellie bikes in period dress and the colourful Wren Boys.
Festival Programme
Last year saw Christ Church Cathedral join the list of TradFest venues for the first time and organisers are delighted that this stunning venue will once again play host to a number of headline acts:
The Dubliners 50th Anniversary Concert with Special Guests – 27 / 28 Jan, Christ Church Cathedral
Mike McGoldrick – 25 Jan, Christ Church Cathedral
Ralph Mc Tell with special guest Orlaith Keane – 26 Jan, Christ Church Cathedral
2012 will see another iconic venue welcome Trad musicians to play within its walls – Dublin City Hall.
Wednesday 25th of January
1pm: Mick O Brien
8pm: An evening of Irish Culture – In Song and Story with Noel O’ Grady
Thursday the 26th January
1pm: Edel Fox
8pm: Voices and Harps with Moya Brennan and Cormac de Barra
Friday 27th January
1pm: Tommy Sands
8pm: Frankie Gavin
Saturday the 28th of January
1pm: ÉILE (free concert)
8pm: Cor Chuil Aodha
Sunday the 29th January
1.30-2.30pm: Fiddle making demonstration with Ger H. O Neill and Peadair O Doherty
5.oopm: A Gala Benefit Night for The Pecker Dunne (MC for the evening, Mannix Flynn)
Wednesday the 27th of January
8pm: Lisa O Neill @ The Button Factory
Thursday the 26th of January
8pm: Cathy Jordan, with special guests The Henry Girls @ The Button Factory
Friday the 27th of January
8pm: Inish Turk Beg Sessions @ The Button Factory
The Temple Bar TradFest also includes a jam packed family programme with gigs for kids and workshops at The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, the very popular Singers Club returns to the Temple Bar Hotel as well as special lunchtime sessions in City Hall and much more. Full programme details will be announced early January 2012.
Sunday the 29th of January
2-5pm: Ceili and Set Dancing @ The Button Factory
Time TBC: Fidil & Solo Cissokho @ The Button Factory with special guests Tarab
[Press release]
