Tipperary expects over 200,000 for Irish music festival. And Irish musicians and dancers from throughout the U.S. meet in Boston.
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Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2003 will be held in Clonmel, County Tipperary from August 22-24. This premier traditional music event attracts over 220,000 people and 10,000 performers each year These include 4,000 competitors in the 150 or so traditional competitions.
The fleadh is organized by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, an association dedicated to Irish culture with chapters in over 20
countries and dozens of American cities.
Comhaltas concert tours date back to 1972 when the first official North American Tour took place. For audiences at home and abroad, these tours showcase all that’s best in our traditional music, song, and dance.
An annual convention is also held in a different city in North America each year featuring non-stop Irish music sessions flourishing alongside ceili dances that include up to several hundred people.
This year’s convention was held in Boston. From April 24-27 Irish musicians and dancers from across North America
converged on the Hilton Boston Hotel. Over 500 delegates from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities as well as representatives from Ireland, England and Scotland, including Ireland’s Senator Labhras O’Murchu, a noted scholar and music historian who is associated with the Comhaltas headquarters in Dublin, attended.
“The goal of Comhaltas is to celebrate and pass along the music, dance and culture of Ireland that has survived for over ten centuries,” said Larry Reynolds, who immigrated from Galway in the 1950s and has helped fuel the Irish music revival in
Boston. “Irish gatherings are very sociable, so typically these occasions allow people to talk, laugh and tell stories while enjoying the best Irish music and dancing you’re likely to see anywhere.” ♦
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For more details on Comhaltas visit www.Comhaltas.com.
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