Town in Ireland braces for the largest celebration of Irish culture in the world

Half a million musicians and visitors will travel to Drogheda for Fleadh Cheoil in celebration of Irish music, culture, language, song and dance.

Over the next month close to a half million musicians and visitors will travel to the town of Drogheda north of Dublin for the Fleadh Cheoil, the world’s largest celebration of Irish music, culture, language, song and dance. And they are coming from all corners of the world.

“We expect about 15-thousand musicians taking part in the concerts, competitions and sessions and we expect at least 450-thousand visitors to hear them play,” says Grainne Berrill who is organizing the army of volunteers who will help with all those concerts and competitions.

And the town of Drogheda is setting the perfect stage for it all with a major community clean up. At the most recent monthly Music at the Gate gathering the Mayor, Frank Godfrey urged the townspeople to clean up the streets, plant flowers, get businesses shined up and ready to make the best impression they can on the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected in the town of 30,000 during the week of 12, August to 19 August. As hotel rooms are filling up quickly townspeople are offering rooms for the week to house musicians and help with the overflow of the crowds.

Click here to hear a minute of Drogheda Mayor Frank Godfrey rallying the town toward the Fleadh Cheoil.

While Berrill says that 90% of the volunteers will be coming from County Louth and County Meath there will be an international flavor to the volunteers. “We have a lot of interest in volunteering from people around the world,” she says. “We have volunteers coming from Russia, Japan, the U.S., U.K., France, Spain and Italy.”

There will be main venues set up and schedules in place for the concerts, the competitions and the sessions. And there will be plenty of traditional sessions in the pubs. Musicians will be coming from around the world to compete for the title of all-Ireland champions. This is the first time in its more than 50-year history that the Fleahdh Cheoil na hEiriann will be held on the east coast of Ireland. The countdown is already underway; the Fleadh begins Sunday 12, August and runs through Sunday 19 August. For more information visit their website at www.fleadhcheoil.ie.

And click here for a taste of traditional music from Drogheda at a recent celebration of Music at the Gate.

* This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.

This article was submitted to the IrishCentral contributors network by a member of the global Irish community. To become an IrishCentral contributor click here.