Lifestyle & Sports
02 Sep 20

Gemma Bradley, ROE and Cathal Hayden among artists featured in Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh

The new tourism experience, called 'Folk Park Live,' promises to allow visitors to 'explore 300-years of emigration stories through music and song in County Tyrone.'

Award-winning arts organisation Snow Water has gathered some of Northern Ireland’s premier musicians to take visitors of the Ulster America Folk Park in Omagh on an emotive journey through music and song, which charts stories of emigration.

Visitors will enjoy an immersive audiovisual tour of the museum, with songs that tell of the lives and plight, hardships and the successes of those who had to leave Ulster over the course of 300 years.

The epic new experience will feature musical talents including Neil Martin, Jack Warnock, Gemma Bradley, Niall Hanna, Maurice Leyden, Eilidh Patterson, Gareth Dunlop, No Oil Paintings, Cathal Hayden, Mary Dillon and ROE.

A live performance from each musician was filmed at 12 locations across the Ulster American Folk Park, to create a musical experience that can be enjoyed both online and on site at the Ulster American Folk Park. It includes songs from home and songs written from afar about home, Scottish-influenced fiddle music and piping, Appalachian music and religious songs.

A partnership between Tourism NI and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, ‘Embrace the Place’, was established in 2019, to animate key tourism sites across the region by using the arts to tell the stories of that particular area, offering visitors something new and inspiring to enjoy. Folk Park Live is the final project in the initiative. In a year when both music and travel have been greatly impacted by the Coronavirus, this project will no doubt have a role to play in establishing connection.

“Snow Water’s Folk Park Live, delivers a whole new layer of emotion to the visitor experience at the Ulster American Folk Park and a deep connection with the place and its stories of emigration," said Experience Development Manager of Tourism NI, Rosemary Lightbody.

“Through the tremendous musical talent of the participating artists and the emotional stories within the songs, visitors are taken on a journey that truly engages with the authenticity of the destination and the spirit of its people.”

Book tickets here, or visit the experience on the Folk Park Live website.