Irish in New Hampshire Prepare for Celtic Fest

The following article is from IrishEmigrant.com/boston

With a number of Celtic musical groups, day-long dancing and workshops available for anyone interested in Irish history and culture, it's a wonder the organizers penciled in Irish Fest by the Sea for one single day.

The fest, Saturday Aug. 9, will commence at the Dover Elks Lodge on Durham Road in Dover, N.H. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A number of Irish musical groups will be present and the performances, which will take place under gigantic tents, will feature a number of local and national acts familiar to many Irish in the area.

MacTalla Mor, Matt & Shannon Heaton, O'hAnleigh, Eugene Byrne and Reaganta are but a few of the musical offerings to be part of New Hampshire's first "Under the Tents: Irish Fest by the Sea."

At the festival site, there will also be a variety of retail vendors of Irish goods and food and beverage vendors.

According to the festival's Web site, the fest's goal is to bring Irish arts, heritage and culture together at the New Hampshire seacoast.

Event organizer Raeline O'Neil expects between 120 and 130 dancers to perform during the festival.

"We're hoping to make it a family friendly event for the community," she said. "We're hoping for about 1,200 people but the more the merrier. My daughters will be able to perform for the community and give back to the community."

Irish music

Eugene Byrne is first and foremost an entertainer. During his long career he has worn various performing hats, but in every guise, he remained an entertainer.

Show business is not new to Byrne. He came to North America for the first time in 1967, playing Carnegie Hall, MadisonSquare Garden, and also toured Canada and the United States with the Irish Rovers.

Later he became entertainment manager for Harp and Bard, Inc., a chain of Irish Pubs in the Boston area, and subsequently took over Harp and Bard productions, which represented Tommy Makem. For more information, go to www.eugenebyrne.com.

MacTalla Mór, Gaelic for Great Echo, is a national touring band featuring the Great Highland Bagpipes, piano, vocals and Bodhran in a dynamic mix of traditional Celtic, Roots Rock, Calypso, Blues and Jazz. Their champion pipers and award winning Gaelic singers and musicians set them apart and make them a crowd favorite at major festivals and concerts throughout North America.

Traditional Gaelic singing (Sean-nós) and Puirt a' Beul (Mouth Music) meet original Celtic Roots Rock and Fusion.

MacTalla Mo'r features acclaimed Great Highland Bagpiper Jesse MO' Ofgang of New York's famed Kenmure PipeBand on pipes, whistles and percussion, his sister Ilana Regina Ofgang on piano and vocals, his brother Levon Ofgang on bagpipes, their mom Patty Devlin Ofgang on Bodhran and renowned musicians from around the world on bass, drums and percussion. For more information, go to www.mactallamor.com.

Matt & Shannon Heaton. Boston-based guitarist/singer Matt Heaton and Irish flute player/singer Shannon Heaton have performed with a variety of bands since 1992. From Siucra to Robbie O'Connell to the Boys of the Lough, the Heatons have made appearances alongside some of Celtic music's finest.

Since stepping out as a duo in 2003, the Heatons bring a savvy modernity and American feel to the Auld Sod's music, without losing any of its folksy Irish essence. Their CD, "Blue Skies Above," has been termed "masterful and inventive."

For this year's festival Matt & Shannon Heaton will perform with fiddle/banjo luminary Sam Amidon. Originally from Brattleboro, VT, Amidon plays traditional music with virtuosity that is well balanced with creativity, reverence, and heart. For more information, go to www.mattandshannonheaton.com.

O'hAnleigh. Ancestral roots and diverse musical talent blend to create lively and haunting rhythms of Irish-American culture that keep O'hAnleigh audiences' toes tapping and hands clapping from pubs to churches to concert halls across New England and on radio around the world.

O'hAnleigh's peppy, upbeat sound is a fixture at pubs, folk festivals and family performances. While their songs may be rousing story songs, they also leave their fans with a heightened sense of Irish-American culture and history. For more information, go to www.myspace.com/ohanleigh.

Réagánta is the trio Regina Delaney (Irish harp, vocals, dance, and poetry), Claudia Altemus (vocals, Penny Whistle, Storytelling), and Eugene Durkee (guitar and vocals). They perform traditional Irish music, song, dance, storytelling and poetry in concert, teaching, and workshop settings.

But their performances include more than just a sit-down listen to Irish music. Often, the audience will join them dancing a ceili [Scottish or Irish folk music and singing, traditional dancing, and storytelling at a social event] or two. For more information, go to www.reaganta.com.

The festival is being presented by Cara Rince, Inc. (Friend of Dance), the nonprofit parent group of the Murray Irish Dance Academy, with the help of numerous volunteers.

For more information, contact Irish Fest by the Sea at P.O. Box 70, Stratham, N.H. 03885 or call 603-531-3550. Also, go to www.irishfestbythesea.org.

Source: IrishEmigrant.com/boston

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