Mayo Manchester visits Castlebar to start countdown to Home to Mayo
MAYO Manchester's Tony Hennigan made a flying visit to Castlebar to help start the countdown to the inaugural month long Home to Mayo festival, joining up with the team from Mayo County Council's Mayo.ie.
Mayo Manchester are organising the flagship Home to Mayo Tradfest which runs from Thursday to Tuesday, May 26 to 31.
The week of traditional Irish music, song and dance will see the group stage a host of events in eight different hubs in Achill, Ballina, Ballinrobe, Castlebar, Cong and Ashford Castle, Erris, Killala and Westport.
The Tradfest will feature over 100 performers from Mayo and Manchester. The group will be joined by the Manchester-based St. Lawrence’s GAA Club who have very strong Mayo links and are celebrating their anniversary this year with a tour of Mayo during the same week.
Mr. Hennigan commented: “It looks like every Mayo man, women and child is heading home to Mayo for the festival. We have been away too long and the Mayo diaspora are very keen to get back home to celebrate with their friends and family.”
Most of the events at the festival are free of charge and all of them are family friendly events.
Highlights include:
Thursday, 26 May: Festival launch in Market Square, Castlebar, with the Fianna Phadraig Pipe Band at 1 p.m. followed by a parade to the Linenhall theatre.
Friday, 27 May: Festival visit to Killala with a parade through the town with performances at the Quays, Killala Round Tower, Labour Cottages, Killala Church and a tour of the local pubs, finishing with a trad session at the Arches Bar. The fun starts at 6 p.m.
Saturday, 28 May: The Home to Mayo gala concert is being staged at the Ballina Arts Centre. The evening of award-winning traditional Irish, singers, musicians and dancers will be hosted by Alan Keegan from Manchester United Football club. There is a limited capacity at the theatre and you are advised to purchase your tickets in advance. Early bird tickets start at just €10 for a limited period only.
Sunday, 29 May: The festival will visit Achill Island to celebrate 150 years of Irish piping with a special parade and performance by the Achill-based Dooagh Pipe Band and Fianna Phadraig Pipe Band, starting at 1 p.m. from Lourdie's Pub.
Sunday evening sees the festival visit Westport for a trail through the town visiting various venues and iconic locations.
Monday, 30 May: Ballinrobe races has just celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the festival will be turning the racecourse green and red to welcome the diaspora home and providing the entertainment at this family friendly event from 4 to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, 31 May: The closing day of the festival sees it return to Ashford Castle and Cong village for various promenade performances at the castle and in the village made famous in the film The Quiet Man. Events starts at 1 p.m.
The final performance will be an early evening event in Erris to bring the festival to a close.