Comhaltas launches 'Nenagh TradFest'

Nenagh town is the place to be on the last weekend of May!

The Ormond branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann has announced the details of the first ever 'Nenagh TradFest'. The event takes place at various locations in Nenagh town on the weekend of May 27th – 29th and promises to bring some of the finest talents in traditional music, dancing and more to the town.

The festival was borne out of the success of the local CCÉ branch hosting the Munster Fleadh Cheoil in 2015. The organising committee recognised the general lift it gave to the town and the great reviews received both from people visiting the town for the Fleadh and from the locals who joined in the festival atmosphere.

“We were delighted with the success of the Fleadh na Mumhan in Nenagh last summer and we are keen to build on that,” explained Tom Boland Chairperson of Ormond CCÉ.

“While the organising committee put it together, the whole town rowed in behind it. There was great support from Nenagh Municipal District Council, the local business community, the bars and restaurants, the Abbey Court Hotel and the people of the town themselves put their shoulders to the wheel to present Nenagh in such a positive way. So many visitors to the town came back to us to tell us what a warm and friendly reception they received.”

Since then, Ormond CCÉ have been working on ways to tap into the positivity there is towards traditional music and arts in the town, and it was following the great reaction to their Easter 1916 centenary celebration concert at Nenagh Arts Centre earlier this year that they decided to go ahead and endeavour to establish what they hope to be an annual festival for Nenagh.

Tom explained the genesis of the festival - “Leeds Comhaltas contacted us back in February to tell us that they had such a great weekend in Nenagh at the Fleadh last July that they were planning on returning to the town again. They asked us to facilitate a concert in the last weekend of May, which we agreed to, and it was from there that we began to wonder if we could build something around that, which would bring the festival atmosphere back and be of benefit to the town generally.

“We were then approached by Noreen O’Sullivan on behalf of the Vintners Federation of Ireland to see if we were interested in doing something in terms of a trad festival. However, getting these events off the ground is not straightforward. We spoke to and sought advice from various people in the town such as Cllr Hughie McGrath and to those running established trad festivals in different parts of the country.”

Cllr McGrath welcomed the event, saying: “I’m delighted to see this event is happening, the town needs any boost it can get. Anyone who came into town last year will remember the great atmosphere that surrounded the Munster Fleadh, so hopefully this festival will bring some of that back.”

Noreen O’Sullivan of Rocky’s Bar is excited to see the launch: “Nenagh has always been a great town for traditional music. It will hopefully give a good lift to the town as we come into the summer season and anything that might bring in visitors to the town has to be a good thing.”

The TradFest will open on Friday night, May 27th, and finish Sunday May 29th. The centrepiece of the festival will be a concert on Saturday night in Nenagh Arts Centre entitled “The Trip to Nenagh” and will be presented by Leeds CCÉ and friends. Around this, the festival will feature Sean Nós dancing workshop with the world-renowned Emma O’Sullivan, story-telling, workshops in fiddle, whistle and singing, Club na n-Óg with Conradh na Gaeilge as well as a comprehensive session trail.

Tickets for the Leeds concert may be purchased at the Arts Centre box office (067 34400) or online at www.nenagharts.com. Keep an eye on the Nenagh Guardian in the coming weeks for details of all of the activities, which will also be updated on the festival social media: Twitter: @nenaghtrad or follow Nenagh TradFest on Facebook. The organisers may be contacted by email at nenaghtrad@gmail.com.