Folk That: Dyan Fest for Donegal

Stuck Inside of Moville – aka the DylanFest on the Lough – will take place this year from Thursday July 1 through to Independence Day, Sunday July 4 in the holiday town of Moville, Donegal. An unlikely location, maybe, but how could you resist a pun like that? There will also be a Pre-DylanFest night on June 30 in Mason's Bar in Derry. A highlight of the festival will be the play Long Time Gone, which will have its European Premiere in Moville.

Writer Peter Landecker will be coming across from Montreal to put it on. The script received input from Dylan himself after Landecker met him by chance twice – first at a filling station and later when Dylan was riding his bike – and gained permission to use both his words and music in further correspondence with him. All the dialogue is Dylan's own words from record sleeves and interviews and shaped in the form of an interview interspersed with lots of Dylan songs. It will play on the Friday night of the festival followed by a premiere party and again on the Saturday evening. I recently spoke to James O'Connor and Audrey Trainor who will be performing the songs interspersed in the play, and although James was still coming to terms with the wonderful verbosity of Dylan's lyrics, he was enjoying the challenge and looking forward to what will be a very different gig from the ones he has been playing in support of his recent Falling Up EP. The duo have been gigging hard in the last while and landed the song in the Top Ten by way of reward for all the effort.
Al Diesan and Pino Tocco will be coming across from Italy for the festival. According to one local Dylan expert, Al Diesan was the best 'Dylan' he'd seen and that festival goers will be in for a treat.
There will be umpteen Open Mics for anybody who wants to come along and perform, and there will be music in the pubs of Moville and outside at the Putting Green Cafe on the shores of Lough Foyle, and in the grounds of the hostel at Gulladuff House, where the acts can be watched from a sixth century bridge over the trout-filled River Bredagh.
The DylanFest on the Lough takes place on the same weekend as Dylan himself plays Limerick, and the organisers are running a bus from Moville to Limerick on the Sunday morning.
Also making the most of the Summer weather, Cavan's branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, with the ever inventive Martin Donohue at the helm, is gearing up for a summer of sessions. There'll be a weekly session in the Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff every Tuesday night throughout July and August, kicking off at 8pm. And if that puts the grá on you, there will also be a session on Wednesday evenings at 9pm in Cavan town at the Farnham Arms Hotel, throughout the months of July and August.
There's the promise of not only tea, coffee and treats but of 'wild Cavan music' – and I wouldn't say you'll be disappointed in either respect.
All this will serve as a warm-up to get the locals into shape for the arrival of the 2010 Fleadh, which descends on Cavan from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 August. This will be the first visit of the Fleadh in 56 years and they're keen to put their own unique stamp on the proceedings which, as ever, will hinge around the All-Ireland competitions which take place over the final weekend.
Providing a backdrop to all that – and giving the young competitors something to aspire to – will be a week of concerts by some stellar names, including Paul Brady, who plays the Cavan Equestrian Centre on Friday August 20, Sharon Shannon who headlines the Peace III Gig Rig shows on Sunday 22, and Beóga, who play the town-centre Farnham Arms Hotel in a special Nyah fringe event late on the Friday night.
At First Light, Daoirí Farrell, accordionist Peter Browne and Lúnasa – who launch their new Lá Nua CD – will be among the headline acts appearing at the late-night Fleadh Club in the Town Hall.