ENTERTAINMENT: Newport's John McFadden Festival – music, dancing and more this weekend

WHEN John McFadden left Newport after the Great Famine for a new life in the US, he brought with him the tunes of the old country, which will be celebrated at a festival this weekend named in his honour.
The John McFadden Festival takes place in Newport over the St Brigid's Bank Holiday weekend, running from February 2 to 5 with musicians from all over Ireland and further afield to visit west Mayo in honour a man renowed for his fiddle playing over 100 years ago.
John McFadden was born in Carrowmore outside Newport in the 1850s and later emigrated to Cleveland with his parents William and Mary after they were evicted from their homestead. He later moved to Chicago where John was prominent in the Irish music scene and is believed to have contributed significantly to the iconic Francis O’ Neill’s book '1001 Dance Tunes of Ireland', which is still regarded as the bible of traditional Irish music.
Martin Hughes of the The John McFadden Festival committee said that people like John McFadden are largely responsible for keeping the tunes alive and felt it is important to honour his memory in his home town.
“We feel it is important to recognise this great man's contribution to traditional Irish music worldwide and to celebrate and honour his life and music in his homeplace,” Martin told The Mayo News.

Great feedback
This is the second year of the festival and Martin admitted that they were blown away by the feedback they received from participants and attendees last year. He is expecting Newport to be packed with fiddlers and other musicians for the weekend.
“The festival includes workshops in various traditional instruments, sean-nós singing and dancing incorporating the arts, crafts and our Irish language. This year we are adding a céili and concert to the programme. In keeping with our ethos we have organised events that will cater for all ages making it inclusive to everyone - young and old, visitors and locals.
“Our festival is an opportunity to showcase the best of Mayo musicians, dancers, singers, culture, community and businesses,” he said.
Martin said that while last year's festival was a huge boost to the economy of Newport he noticed that it has had a positive impact on the community with many people looking to learn to play traditional instruments as well as speak the Irish language on a regular basis.

Instrument bank
“In response to the demand for instruments and music lessons we have set-up an instrument bank to allow people in the area to rent an instrument so they can ‘try before they buy’. It proved to be an amazing success and we’re in the process of adding more instruments to it.
“A Rambling House group was born during the festival last year, we had no idea it was going to be so successful. The venue was packed an hour before it was due to start. Such was the demand that a regular meet once a month has been organised. Like the Ciorcal Cainte, it’s a casual, welcoming space for people to come together and enjoy music, song, poetry, story and dance. We are blown away by its popularity.
“We chose this new St Brigid’s Bank Holiday weekend as our festival weekend so we could celebrate this special time of year with traditional music, song, and dance. St Brigid is also synonymous with Imbolg, we believe we are seeing a rebirth of traditional West of Ireland song, dance, language, music and craft. We feel the weekend is a fitting tribute to two deserving Irish icons St Brigid and John McFadden,” Martin explained.

For more information on the John McFadden Festival visit the website www.johnmcfadden.org.