Want to be part of the biggest online Irish music festival this year?

An invitation is going out out to musicians around the world to record clips of themselves performing traditional Irish music or singing folk songs and to submit them online. These will form part of Fleadhfest – a mainly online festival which will take place August 1st – 9th next and which will replace Ireland’s biggest traditional festival, Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

“The Fleadh was cancelled this year, due to the pandemic, so Comhaltas asked us to come up with a programme of musical events which will take place during the dates traditionally set aside for Fleadh week,” said Bartley Gavin, Chair of Fleadhfest, and who had a similar role when the Fleadh Cheoil was successfully hosted in Sligo in 2014 and 2015.

“The challenge for us is to produce a programme that will mainly focus on events that will be streamed online. These include concerts, sessions and competitions, many of the key components of any Fleadh, and the online session is a really important aspect of reaching out to musicians around the world. We know that because of restrictions, most people are currently confined to playing music at home, so this is a way for them to engage with other musicians on a much bigger scale.”

So, musicians are asked to record a tune or song using their smart phones – or suitable alternatives like video cameras – and send them via file share apps like WeTransfer or Dropbox to info@fleadhcheoil.ie

How to upload your video

An instructional video has been produced showing the steps musicians should take to ensure that their tune or song is recorded using the best lighting, audio, framing and background. This is available on www.fleadhfest.ie in both English and Irish. Once received, the clips will then be edited together and played out as part of the Fleadhfest online programme in August.

“As a musician I think that the online session will appeal to musicians of every level, and we’d hope to get recordings from people all around the world, says Sligo musician Oisín Mac Diarmada, who is also involved with Fleadhfest.

“The focus isn’t on expertise but on participation,” he adds, saying that “we want the online session to be as diverse as possible, with a range of instruments, tunes and styles, elements that we would normally see during sessions on the streets at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.”

Fleadhfest will also feature live concerts and sessions throughout the 9 day festival. These will range from musician takeovers in iconic locations around Sligo through to concerts and performances by well-known bands and performers. And with the Fleadh Cheoil competitions also migrating online this year, these will also feature as part of the bill.

“We know that there’s a huge appetite for live music among musicians and the public, and Fleadhfest will be as close as we can be to the real thing this Summer,” says Labhrás Ó Murchú, Ard Stiúrthóir of Comhaltas, who devised the Fleadhfest concept.

“We really want to reach out to the Diaspora all over the world. We know that in a normal year, thousands of people would descend on the host town for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. Currently this isn’t possible, so we feel that by bringing the music to them, this will help to provide some solace for people through the music.”

For Bartley Gavin and his team, the months ahead will be busy and challenging, planning a programme that will appeal to an online community and that can also have the flexibility to migrate into conventional concerts and events, should some restrictions be lifted. Partnerships with media organisations will also be key, utilising the online platforms and expertise available to bring the music to as wide an audience as possible.

“TG4 have agreed to produce and stream several concerts during the festival, and, should Covid-19 restrictions be eased ahead of Fleadhfest, we will be in a position to open these events to the public. Obviously a wait-and-see approach will be required, and audience numbers are likely to be limited, but we hope that, as the vaccination programme rolls out, by late Summer we’ll be in a better situation for at least some attendances to be allowed.”

To find out more about Fleadhfest sign up to the newsletter which will bring you regular updates on the programme of events. In the meantime, tune your fiddle, take out the accordion or tin whistle and record a tune for Fleadhfest.

“We expect that a lot of musicians will want to get involved,” says Micheál Ó Domhnaill of Fleadhfest, who produced the smart phone video tutorial.

“Fleadhfest will be one of the only traditional music festivals taking place this Summer, so it’s an opportunity for musicians to share their tunes with others. We know the impact of not just playing, but listening to music can have on us in the times we live in. So we’d ask musicians in countries all over the world to send us their clips to enable us to include as many as we can in the Fleadhfest programme.”