Programme for 43rd Cork Folk Festival Announced

Frankie Gavin to launch a new solo album at the festival.

Programme for 43rd Cork Folk Festival Announced

Over fifty events will take place this year including concerts by Frankie Gavin, Mary Black, Seán Keane, Matt Molloy, Caitlín Nic Gabhann, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Clare Sands and Emma Langford.

Cork Folk Festival is on this year from 29 September to 2 October with four days of traditional and folk music concerts, sessions, workshops, children’s events and more. The festival is now in its 43rd year and will host over fifty events as part of its programme, with over 150 musicians performing across twenty venues in the city. 

Headlining the festival is singer Mary Black, who will perform at Cork Opera House on 2 October with her band (Bill Shanley, Pat Crowley, Nick Scott, Richie Buckley and Liam Bradley), with support from singer-songwriter Gráinne Hunt.  

Concerts and album launches
Frankie Gavin will launch Port Éireann, his new album with pianist Catherine McHugh during a concert at Triskel Christchurch on 1 October. The venue will host a series of concerts throughout the festival including Seán Keane, Matt Molloy, Máire Ní Chathasaigh and Chris Newman (30 September); DANÚ with Eoin Jordan (1 October); and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Mark Redmond and Cormac De Barra (2 October).  

Also performing throughout the festival are singer and storyteller Thomas McCarthy (29 September); concertina player and dancer Caitlín Nic Gabhann and fiddler Ciarán Ó Maonaigh with guitarist Seamie O’Dowd and piper Leonard Barry (30 September); Clare Sands – who will be launching her new self-titled album (1 October); and the Baltimore Fiddle Fair will celebrate 30 years with a concert featuring Liz Doherty’s Fiddlesticks, North Cregg, Catriona McKay and Chris Stout, Lena Jonsson and Johanna Juhola (29 September).  

An Spailpín Fánach
An Spailpín Fánach will host a series of concerts for the festival, including a celebration of the music of Sliabh Luachra with Eoin Stan O’Sullivan, Emma O’Leary, Pat Fleming, Maura O’Connor and Bryan O’ Leary (29 September); a flute and whistle concert with Karl Nesbitt, Mary Donegan, Aoife Granville and Joanne Quirke; a concertina concert with Paddy Egan, Cliona Halley, and Niall Vallely; and a concert with Gerry Harrington, Peter Browne, Seosaimhín Ní Bheaglaoich, Charlie Piggott, Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly (1 October).

The venue will also host a fiddle concert with Brendan Mulvihill, Gerry Harrington, Caoimhín Flannery and Andrew Cadden; ‘Gals at Play’ featuring five women composers including Mary Greene, Niamh Murphy, Sarah O’Gorman, Alannah Thornburgh and Aileen Mythen; an accordion concert with Hughie Kennedy, Aidan Coffey, Billy Sutton, Benny McCarthy and Christy Leahy; and a concert with Garry Cronin, Desi McCabe and Mick Willis (2 October). 

Singer-songwriter Emma Langford will perform at Cyprus Avenue; Aran Island singer songwriter Pádraig Jack will perform at Coughlan’s Bar on 29 September; and cajun band from Cork Two Time Polka will perform at Crane Lane.  

There will also be a film screening of Myles O’Reilly’s Dark Horse On The Wind, The Life and Songs of Liam Weldon at The Gate Cinema on 2 October; workshops with Máire Ní Chéileachair, Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly (1 October); a Céilí Mór (29 September); and traditional sessions, book readings, and free outdoor concerts throughout the festival. 

For further information and tickets, visit: www.corkfolkfestival.com.

Published on 13 September 2022

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