RTÉ Radio to host 2007 EBU Folk Festival

The festival, the 28th of its kind, will take place as part of the Cork Folk Festival from 31 August to 2 September 2007. The announcement was made today by RTE, who will be hosting the festival for the first time. RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta are collaborating to plan, promote and broadcast the event.
“I’m very pleased that RTÉ Radio is hosting the EBU Folk Festival,” Adrian Moynes, Managing Director of RTÉ Radio, said. “Thousands of members of the public will have the opportunity to listen to traditional folk music from different European countries, not only live at the festival in Cork but also on air, as the performances will be broadcast throughout Europe via EBU member radio stations”
The link-up represents a major coup for the Cork Folk Festival – an event that has continued to deliver on its commitment to folk music when many other festivals have stuttered or stopped.
“The EBU Folk Festival will add a further element to the 2007 Cork Folk Festival and attract wider audiences,” Jim Walsh, Chair of the Cork Folk Festival, told hotpress.com. “We’re looking forward to it already.”
The EBU Folk Festival is an annual event that takes place in different European countries. The festival brings folk singers, musicians, soloists and groups from various European countries to one location, so that local audiences have the opportunity to experience the traditional music of their neighbouring European countries. Each year a different EBU member hosts the event and afterwards radio stations around Europe broadcast the festival music recordings.
Details of the complete Cork Folk Festival line-up, including the visiting European folk musicians, dates and times of events will be announced later next year.