TradFest Temple Bar is back in its 18th year- bigger and better than ever!
Each January, the festival showcases the best of established and emerging musical talent rooted in the historic and atmospheric setting of Temple Bar, Dublin’s cultural quarter.
This year sees an expansion with some 40 events taking place around the city including the GPO and the Pepper Cannister Church but also takes in new fringe venues like the Banquet Hall, Malahide Castle and Swords Castle.
The opening evening kicked off last night. Despite Dry January, the crowd was fizzing with energy and enthusiasm!
This year the spotlight is on all-female acts. An inimitable show from Grammy-winner Judy Collins, a long-time collaborator with Leonard Cohen, will perform for fans in St Patrick’s Cathedral.
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh will front an all-female gala concert celebrating women in the trad music industry. Among those included in the event in the National Stadium will be Grammy-nominee Mary Chapin Carpenter, Sí Fiddlers and T with the Maggies.
The festival’s Director, Martin Harte had this to say, ”A big part of what we’re trying to do in Tradfest is increasing diversity and inclusion. We’re trying our best to ensure we have a more even split of performers in terms of male to female and that’s really important to us.”
We love quirky facts here at Travel2Ireland so had to press Martin for something unusual. He tells us that Pulitzer prize-winning Director and Actor, Sam Sheppard came to see T with the Maggies perform at the trad fest in 2009 and loved it so much he hired them immediately to perform music for his runaway hit ‘Ages of the Moon’- this play is the original gruff male ‘bromance’ long before ‘Banshees of Inisherin’!
