Traditional singer Macdara Yeates sits down with Sami artist Ánde Somby, Traveller singer Stephen Dunne and Traveller actor and writer John Connors, to explore the music, heritage and history of the Sami and Travelling communities.

Drawing on the experiences and culture of two distinct European minority groups, ’Yoik and Nyahh’ is an evening of discussion, music and song examining themes of cultural suppression, musical solidarity and shared history through song.

March 17th, 8pm
Palatine Room, Collins Barracks Dublin
Free but ticketed

https://stpatricksfestival.ie/events/festival-quarter/abair/yoik-and-nyahh

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ABAIR is an annual oral traditions programme which explores the Irish traditions of storytelling, song, and oral history and traces their links around the world.

Taking place as part of The St. Patrick’s Festival, the multi-format programme offers a wide array of concerts, pop-ups and storytelling sessions, that examine the relationship between the sung and spoken word in Ireland and abroad (the Irish word ‘Abair’ translates roughly as both ‘to say’ and ‘to sing’).

The 2023 programme, running from the 16th to the 18th of March in Collins Baracks, features a host of international collaborations such as: ‘The Donegal Tarantella’, an exploration of Southern Italian folk music and its links with Southwest Donegal, with Francesco Turrisi (ITA), Ronan Galvin (IRE), Anna Cinizia Villani (ITA) and Ellie Nic Fhionnghaile (IRE); ‘Yoik and Nyahh’, an event exploring the parallels in the history and culture of the Sami people of Northern Europe and the Irish Travelling community, with Ánde Somby (Samiland), John Connors (IRE) and Stephen Dunne (IRE); and ‘Ukraine & Ulster: Songs of Conflict’, a song-exploration of the recent and current unrest in Ukraine and the North of Ireland, with Olesya Zdorovetska (UKR) and Seán Mone (IRE). Also in the programme is a range of events for children and families including storytelling duo Candle Lit Tales and guerrilla performances from The Fingal Mummers; The Megaphone Project, a new pop-up street singing series; One Arm As Long As The Other a new storytelling and song collaboration from Hugh Cooney and Seán Fitzgerald; and much more.

Curated by traditional singer Macdara Yeates, ABAIR, now in its fifth year, is a staple feature in the annual St. Patrick’s Festival aimed at celebrating the rich oral culture of Ireland and examining its place in the world at large.