North Belfast’s Cumann Cultúrtha Mhic Reachtain celebrate their 25th Scoil Samhraidh Mhic Reachtain festival, supported by The National Lottery
31st July, 2024
There’s music in the air in north Belfast this week as the 25th Scoil Samhraidh Mhic Reachtain festival heads into its second week at Áras Mhic Reachtain, supported by The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The festival started on Sunday 21 July and continues until this Friday 2nd August with a series of concerts, Irish language courses and trad music workshops.
People are also welcome to drop by Caifé Ceoil to enjoy a cuppa and the free trad sessions on offer. Everyone is welcome in the cafe, whether you speak Irish or not, you will receive a warm welcome.
This year’s jam-packed festival featured music and a guided walk from Belfast Castle to McArt's Fort and will close on Friday 2nd August with an Oíche Airneáil concert celebrating sean-nós singing and dancing. In between there has been the best of pioneering, traditional and contemporary music at concerts, daily music sessions, literary events, lectures, a Gaelic karaoke night, a bespoke cultural culinary evening, an international lunch, Irish-language courses, book stalls, and more.
Please note the video is presented in the Irish and English languages
Daithí Mac Uait, Áras Mhic Reachtain, commented,
“We are thrilled to be celebrating 25 years of our Scoil Samhraidh Mhic Reachtain festival. It started with the idea of putting on events and an Irish language crash course for local people here in north Belfast. Last week we had over 170 people in learning Irish and attending six traditional music sessions every day, which is just fantastic. The festival has now grown to a two-week festival and the audiences and participants are getting bigger every year. The festival continues until Friday 2nd August so do visit our website and come along and join in the celebrations.”
Fióna Ní Mhearáin, Arts Development Officer in Traditional Arts, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, added,
“The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to support the Scoil Samhraidh Mhic Reachtain festival at Áras Mhic Reachtain through our National Lottery Project Funding, a programme that supports the development and creation of year-round arts activities and events through festivals, literature, drama, visual arts, music and community programming. This festival demonstrates the power of the arts in bringing people and communities closer together and I would encourage everyone to go along this week and check out some of the amazing concerts, trad sessions and workshops that are on offer.”
For more information and tickets go to www.mhicreachtain.com, follow on Facebook and Twitter, or call into Caifé Ceoil in Áras Mhic Reachtain 9283-289 Antrim Road, Belfast.