The Liverpool Irish Festival Returns With Film, Arts, Music, Food & Football
The 12th Liverpool Irish Festival returns to the city this October celebrating Liverpool’s unique relationship with Ireland and showcasing the finest in contemporary and traditional Irish culture.
From the English première of Seamus Heaney’s final works to a celebration of Gaelic football with the first Liverpool Irish Festival Cup and a talk by John Larkin QC, Attorney General for Northern Ireland, this year’s Festival is bigger than ever spreading across ten days in a cavalcade of music, arts, dance, theatre, exhibitions, food, drink, football, talks and tours.
Taking place at key venues across the city including St George’s Hall, the Bluecoat, Picturehouse at FACT, St. Michael’s Irish Centre, University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Sefton Park’s Palm House, the 2014 Festival has been programmed to deliver a broader mix of art forms and events to highlight the impact of Irish culture on the city.
The Festival, in association with Indie Cork Film Festival, will present some of the best new independent Irish film and animation shorts also to be screened by Picturehouse at FACT.
Over at Wavertree’s Mystery Park, a more vigorous aspect of Irish culture will be on show. The champions of the first ever the Roswick Liverpool Irish Festival GAA Cup will be unveiled after a blitz tournament featuring the region’s men’s and women’s Gaelic Football teams in a two-day competition.
Music is always at the heart of the Liverpool Irish Festival and this year is no different. Moxie – an exciting band of five young Irish musicians who fuse traditional music with contemporary rock – play on the opening night. The hauntingly beautiful The Gloaming close the Festival in a grand finale. In between, hear the award-winning We Banjo 3 with their extraordinary spin on Irish and old-time bluegrass music and song. This years Festival also celebrates cutting edge Irish electronic music for the first time talent with an exciting new event at Sefton Park Palm House.
The spirit of Irish traditional music is alive and well in Liverpool’s pubs throughout Liverpool Irish Festival. Throughout the Festival traditional and contemporary local and Irish musicians take over the city’s drinking holes. The ‘Bog Standards’ feature their regular raucous stomp at the Caledonia, while Pogue Mahone’s host an all day music and food special on Saturday 1st November. The Edinburgh and Peter Kavanagh’s have long been two of the Festival’s spiritual homes and sessions will continue there.
The full programme of events will be available at www.liverpoolirishfestival.com.
Follow Liverpool Irish Festival at www.facebook.com/LivIrishFest and https://twitter.com/LivIrishFest
