Tag Archives: festival

Spirit of Folk Festival 2012

  By Culch.ie | December 7, 2012 - 2:00 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
Leave a comment

As we come to the cold end of a very hectic year, a few of us are looking back over the highlight of our Summer season – anyone who has read culch regularly will know how much we loved Spirit of Folk. It’s a small festival with a big heart and, this year they managed to keep the same atmosphere and sense of community amongst the festival goers. Anto, Peter and Brian, who were there last year, were joined by Blots, Darren, Elly, Phillip and Sarah so this post will contain contributions from a few of us. A SOFF megapost if you will. Anto: I’d been in two minds about attending SOF last year. I didn’t know a lot about it and I wasn’t really up for a weekend of camping. In hindsight, I’m so glad I went and I’d been looking forward to the second year for months. This … There’s more →

Interview: Nouvelle Vague, the awesomest covers band

  By Andy Gaffney | June 28, 2012 - 12:51 pm | Featured Post, Music, The Culch
1 Comment
NouvelleVague002

Nouvelle Vague are the effortlessly cool cover band who you wish could soundtrack every party you have ever had. Hailing from France, the new wave obsessed band have taken songs such as Ever Fallen in Love? and Blister in the Sun and made them their own. This Galway Arts Festival sees the band make a very welcome return to the city when play Chic Week, so using this an excuse to make myself look in any way cool I spoke to singer Liset Alea about Galway, recording their first original album, breakfasts and serving her cotton candy on stage. I can’t believe I get to start an interview by asking this but where are you right now, Paris or Miami? Because you live in both, right? I’m living in Paris right now, but I’m living out of my suitcase. Sometimes it gets opened to do laundry but then it goes … There’s more →

Music Festival: Spirit of Folk 2012 – The Line Up

  By Peter | May 24, 2012 - 11:37 am | Festivals
Comments Off

  Spirit of Folk Festival Unveils Line-up and Announces Extra Night   Taking place in the idyllic surroundings of Dunderry Park, Co Meath [and they are very idyllic...] from September 21st to 23rd, Spirit of Folk 2012 Ireland’s friendliest festival, as nominted by me returns again with another whopper of a line up and all things razzz-a-mataz. Wasn’t that a tv show way back when ? More to the point, I was there for year one with Messrs McGuinness and Greene. I will be back for year 2. Back to it… This year’s Spirit of Folk festival line up features some new great additions like John Spillane, The Lost Brothers, Lisa O’Neill, David Gray; I Draw Slow, Spook of the Thirteenth Lock. Other acts of note see The Hot Sprockets return; Mossy Nolan and Brian Greene’s latest favourite The Henry Girls. To accompany this feast of musical acts, there will be an … There’s more →

Music: Spirit of Fund – A Spirit of Folk Fundraiser

  By Anto | March 21, 2012 - 10:10 am | Festivals, Music
Comments Off

UPDATE: Tickets are now on sale for 24 hours at €50 for a weekend ticket. Get ‘em here. We raved about the Spirit of Folk festival last year so we’re giving you a heads up on this one. The 2012 festival takes place from 21st-23rd September and they’re hosting a fundraiser in Whelans on Thursday 29th March @ 7.30pm (tickets: €10). Weekend tickets for the festival will be available for €50 (24 hours only) and the folktastic lineup for the Whelans gig includes: The Hot Sprockets The Young Folk Bunoscionn and TRAZ There’ll also be a raffle with prizes from camping tickets to dinners for two in some fancy schmancy restaurants. You can read about 2011 festival here: Day 1, Day 2 & Day 3 and there’s tons more content here: Photos: Anto’s Flickr and Peter’s pix.ie account Audio: Peter’s audioboo account Video: Culch.ie’s Youtube and Peter’s Vimeo. I’ll update … There’s more →

Festivals: Body and Soul 2012

  By seanear1ey | March 20, 2012 - 2:23 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
Comments Off

Villagers you say? Oh and M83? Well it’s only the ruddy Body and Soul festival! That what? The Body&Soul festival. Keep up! Started 3 years ago the festival has bounded and leapt from strength to cliché. This year sees the Uber-cool Summer Solstice-based festival return with their best line-up to-date. Don’t take our word for it (we’ll shut our dirty lying mouths) but the good folks at Body& Soul are definitely to be trusted with a line-up announcement as good as this. Who couldn’t help but love ‘em? M83, Villagers, St. Vincent, Little Dragon and Tieranniesaur are amongst the fifteen acts announced today with more to come! With the inevitable vacuum left in Oxegen’s departure from the festival circuit for this year, it is definitely the year for the smaller festivals to grow their audiences and Body&Soul is definitely in for a bumper year. Tickets usually sell out fast to … There’s more →

Event: Bushmills Live, 20th and 21st of June

  By Lisa McInerney | March 15, 2012 - 3:00 pm | Events, Festivals, Music, The Culch
Comments Off

Well, this is intriguing. Bushmills, celebrated purveyors of traditional Irish whiskey, have announced details of their own “whiskey and music festival”, which will take place in the Antrim distillery on the 20th and 21st of June. Bushmills have said that some of their most famous musician fans will play a series of intimate gigs on site as part of the festival… but no word yet as to which. But with the likes of Bon Iver and Theophilus London appearing in their latest advertising campaign, they’re known for being very discerning about the company they keep. The omens are good, kids. Even more interesting is that the festival is being promoted as an experience money can’t buy; you don’t buy tickets to Bushmills Live, you apply for them as a Facebook fan of the brand. To be in with a chance of winning the tickets, return travel and accommodation, you have to submit … There’s more →

Spirit of Folk 2012 – Call for band submissions

  By Culch.ie | January 11, 2012 - 10:30 am | Festivals, Gigs, Music
Comments Off

If you’re a regular reader of Culch then you’ll know what an amazing time myself (Anto), Peter Donegan and Brian Greene had at Spirit of Folk 2011 (Day 1, Day 2 & Day 3 posts). It was a brilliant weekend from start to finish and brought together some amazing acts and people. 2012 is set to be bigger and the guys have just put out a call for band submissions. As they say themselves: We’re looking for folk music in the broadest sense. We’re looking for American folk, Irish Trad., bluegrass, folk rock, country and anything that fits our festival. Last year we had bands as broad ranging as St. John the Gambler’s eastern influenced, stomping Alt. Folk to Lisa O’Neill’s tender folk ballads. There’s no reason why this year’s line up can’t be just as diverse. Folk in its most basic sense is the music of the people so … There’s more →

Samhain – The Spirit of Meath Hallowe’en Festival

  By Jenny Foxe | October 31, 2011 - 7:11 pm | The Culch
1 Comment

Uncomfortable with the mass commercialisation of what was always a special time of year to me, last year I looked for something different to do with the kids around Hallowe’en. I wanted it to be spooky and magical, something they’d remember, something that tied the festival to their cultural roots. I was thrilled when a flyer for the Spirit of Meath Hallowe’en festival came through my door. One event in particular stood out to me. Traditional Torchlit Procession To the Hill of Ward, Tlachtga, just outside Athboy, Co. Meath. This is the place where Halloween began. One of the main spiritual centres of the ancient Celts was located at the top of the Hill of Tlachtga, now called the Hill of Ward, Athboy. The druids felt that this world and the otherworld were closest at Tlachtga and it was here that the festival of Samhain or Halloween was started. The … There’s more →

Festival Review: Spirit of Folk 2011 – Day 3

  By Culch.ie | October 10, 2011 - 10:42 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
2 Comments

Spirit of Folk – Day 1 Spirit of Folk – Day 2 Day 3 – What folkin’ time is it lads ? We woke to realise we had all missed the folkin’ rugby match. Brekkie in the belly complete, we still had one full festival day to go. And what you maybe are starting to realise by now is that there was a lot more to SoF 11 than meets the eye. Take for example the Fingal Living History. Really nice guys. And although the video and images maybe don’t do them justice – the audio interview I did with them was going to go here, but – their story told is so good we decided to save it for air on The SodShow. It is that good. How nice were the folks ? They were also in the late night revellers tent last night! And like an advert for … There’s more →

Festival Review: Spirit of Folk 2011 – Day 2

  By Culch.ie | October 10, 2011 - 1:43 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
4 Comments

Spirit of Folk – Day 1 Spirit of Folk – Day 3 Day 2 – The Adventure Begins Spirit of Folk Day 1 was an absolute belter I think it’s fair to say. And so the Three Stooges awoke to a full fry [who needs master chef when you have a gardener !] And somewhere around lunch time we made our way into the main arena to see what was in store. We were all well aware that having not arrived until after 4pm on Day 1, we may have missed a bit. First stop – first band on the main stage – Traz (a four piece Acoustic/Alternative/Folk band from Dublin): Post Traz, we took a wander through the woodland route and heard the familiar sound of uilleann pipes and a guitar bouncing through the trees. Two gentlemen, known as Lynched, were playing a set at the old well and … There’s more →

Festival Review: Spirit of Folk 2011 – Day 1

  By Culch.ie | October 8, 2011 - 6:53 pm | Featured Post, Festivals, Music, The Culch
6 Comments

Spirit of Folk – Day 2 Spirit of Folk – Day 3 If ever there was a festival where it’s title meant more to me after meeting it’s organisers, whilst I was there and in it’s entirety afterwards, this is it. Over three blog posts via recordings in word, audio, video and picture; the three who visited there, namely Peter Donegan, Brian Greene and Anthony McGuinness will paint a picture of just why all are already looking forward to SoF12 and why we already miss the experience that was SoF11. Spirit of Folk – Day 1 Enjoy your festival lads ! That was the greeting we got from the girl directing cars into the field. The field was clean. The grass was clumpy, but that makes for very comfy sleeping. The box office was in a caravan. The toilets were cleaned daily. All of the organisers were happy. The first … There’s more →

The Culchie Guide To: The Spirit of Folk Festival

  By Peter | September 13, 2011 - 5:59 pm | Festivals, Music, The Culch
1 Comment

Useful Links: Buy a ticket – €95 for the 2 day camping pass Getting to the SoF actual site …. actually there! Best directions ever ! find Spirit of Folk of Facebook This is an UNofficial guide. Not a United Nations guide and not a Spirit of folk organisers’ guide. It’s year one and I’ve been to the site so these are my recommendations on what I have been suggesting people do and I got bored repeating myself so now they can have a link. It is my A-Z of sorts. In short: Friday 23rd – 25th September 2011 Gates open at 3pm on the Friday – I’ll be there and waiting as you see in the vid above its a 5 minute trek to anywhere maximum – from anywhere more info on spiritOF folk.com Wine-ing and Dining: Dunderry House is in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t a super … There’s more →

Events: Spirit of Folk Festival 23 – 25th September 2011

  By Peter | August 24, 2011 - 11:50 am | Festivals, The Culch
Comments Off

post update: the culch.ie guide to: the spirit of folk If I was ever to find an alternate to the early days of Electric Picnic, I think this is the closest I will get…. I say I think, coz it is Year 1 [of many, I hope] for the event. Before you might ask: yes, I shall be going to the ball. Never heard of it ? Here’s the low down….. Type: Boutique Festival Name: Spirit of Folk festival Dates: September 23 to 25 2011 Venue: The stunning grounds of Dunderry Park, Co. Meath More important bullet points: Tickets: €95 for w/e camping pass, €59 Saturday Only. Kids under 12 free. Buy them at: tickets.ie or direct from Dunderry Park – call 046 90 74455 NOTE: no alcohol will be sold on site – those who enjoy a tipple should bring their own [organisers official note]. They say: the friendliest … There’s more →

Human Sacrifice in Cork.

  By Lisa McInerney | June 18, 2011 - 1:08 pm | Events, Festivals, Music, The Culch, Theatre
Comments Off

Bit of a stretch, holding this in Cork, isn’t it? Where’re they gonna get a virgin? The inaugural Solstice Festival, an offshoot of the Cork Midsummer Festival, has been ticking away playfully on the third floor of the Old FÁS building since Thursday. The Solstice festival finishes tomorrow, so to see it off with a bang they’ve teamed up with Dublin-based performance collective Come As Soon As You Hear to present Human Sacrifice, an evening of DJs, dancing and … er … virgin bloodshed at the Midsummer Festival’s Spiegeltent. Taking the idea of a closing party wickedly literally, no? Kicking off at 10pm at Murphy’s Midsummer Nights at The Spiegeltent, the event will see a pretty young virgin pay the ultimate price as a gesture of gratitude to The Gods for a bountiful harvest. Dress to distress and don’t forget your dancing shoes as DJs Conor Behan and Joey Kavanagh … There’s more →

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2011

  By Anto | January 27, 2011 - 6:58 pm | Events, Movies & TV, The Culch
Comments Off

If there’s one festival more than any other that I’ve attended in recent years, it’s the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I went along to the launch event on Tuesday evening in Tripod to get the lowdown. Running from the 17th – 27th February, the 2011 programme features over 130 screenings plus a myriad of special events, panel discussions, public interviews and industry masterclasses. It’s a tribute to the hard work of the festival team and sponsors that they’ve managed to pull together one of the best lineups the festival has ever seen. It’s even more of an an achievement when funding for the arts has been hit as much as it has over the past year couple of years. Launching the festival programme were award-winning actors Maura Tierney (ER, Liar Liar), who is currently in Dublin for rehearsals of God of Carnage at The Gate Theatre, and Charlene McKenna … There’s more →