Louisburgh gears up for Féile Chois Cuain

Louisburgh gears up for Féile Chois Cuain


The 15th annual Féile Chois Cuain takes place in Louisburgh over the May Bank Holiday weekend, Friday, May 1, to Monday, May 4, with a fantastic cultural few days of the best of traditional music, song, and dance on the cards.
While Féile Chois Cuain is renowned for its informal and impromptu sessions in which anyone is welcome to join in, there is also a series of scheduled events.
On the Friday night, aside from the usual music and singing sessions in the local hostelries, there will also be a youth concert, ‘Mól an Oige’, featuring local and visiting artists at 7.30pm in the Parochial Hall. Later that evening a cheese-and-wine reception and the féile’s official opening will be held in the Derrylahan Lounge.
The next day, workshops and masterclasses will be held from 10.30am to 4pm. The Parochial Hall will host a set-dancing workshop, while Sancta Maria College will open its doors for a host of masterclasses covering all sorts, including the accordion, banjo, concertina, fiddle, flute, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, set dancing and ballad singing.
At 4.15pm, sean nós-singers will perform in the Old Convent on the Westport Road. Later that evening, at 8.45pm, the ‘Ceolchoirm Na Féile’ – the féile’s ‘Grand Concert’ – will take place in the Parochial Hall.
All the action on Sunday, May 3, will take place in the Parochial Hall. A special concert, ‘Fonn Mhaigheo’ (‘Humours of Mayo’), will be held during the afternoon. It will feature music, song and dance from the four corners of the county.
A set-dancing social, with music by the Heather Breeze Céilí Band, will be held that night.
The Monday has been given over to ‘SlΡn Abhaile’ sessions around the town.
If for any reason you won’t be able to make it to Louisburgh on the May Bank Holiday weekend, don’t despair! The Louisburgh Summer Festival will take place on the August Bank Holiday weekend. The line-up is already taking shape, with popular acts like Lightning Strikes, John McNicholl and The Conquerors all slated to entertain revellers on the streets.
It certainly looks like it’s going to be a busy summer in Louisburgh.
For more information on the line-up for the May Bank Holiday weekend Féile Chois Cuain, visit www.feilechoiscuain.com .