Belfast Trad Fest

In September 2014 – Ray Morgan, Chairperson of the Glengormley School of Traditional Irish Music, had the vision of establishing an annual five-day event in the form of a Traditional Music Summer School in Belfast. Ray approached traditional musician and producer Dónal O'Connor and after they had developed an initial concept they contacted a number of music organisations within Belfast and discussed the feasibility of implementing their ideas. Following a number of exploratory meetings, the organisations came together and formally constituted the Belfast Summer School of Traditional Music, in June 2015.

The Rationale:

Annually, hundreds of traditional musicians from NI, travel to the Republic of Ireland to attend traditional music summer schools and workshop weekends such as 'The Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare', 'The South Sligo Summer School in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo' etc... Demand is high and these summer schools attract thousands of participants and audiences from across the country and internationally. At present, no similar summer schools exist in NI and our proposed project aims to address the gap in traditional music provision. The Pipe Band Musicians in Northern Ireland, which is representative of the Ulster-Scots Community, annually travel to Scotland, the Republic of Ireland, and further afield to compete in competitions and attend music festivals. However, Pipe Band musicians have never been involved directly in Traditional Irish Music Summer Schools and to this end the involvement of Highland Bagpipers and Snare Drummers will be a ground breaking initiative.

Our first Tradfest was in 2017 and has grown ever since. We deliver an Annual Traditional Music Summer School within Belfast and hold a series of workshops, exhibitions, music sessions and concerts in all four corners of the city. We offer internationally recognised professional musicians for tuition to participants and for performances for audiences and provide opportunities for meaningful interaction between cultural traditions.