Ballinasloe all set for third annual Féile Cheoil Larry Reynolds event

Ballinasloe will be alive with traditional Irish music, culture, and heritage this weekend when the town hosts the third annual Féile Cheoil Larry Reynolds from Friday to Sunday.

Larry Reynolds was native of a townland close to Ballinasloe who, like so many of his time, emigrated to Boston in 1953. Over time he became a highly influential fiddle player, not only for his East Galway style, but also because of the contribution he made to Irish culture in Boston and all over North America.

After Larry passed away in 2012, a committee came together in Ballinasloe to commemorate him and the festival was established in 2014.

The Alan Kelly Gang with Eddi Reader will open the festival with a concert in Ballinasloe Town Hall on Friday (€15). The rest of the weekend is a packed itinerary including trad music, song and Sean Nós dance workshops by some of the finest tutors in the country.

The workshops will finish with a tutors recital and will be followed by an Irish Music Pub Trail through a number of venues in the town. During the afternoon there will be a lecture on The East Galway Style of Music, presented by Vera Craughwell in the Convent Gallery of Ballinasloe Library, which will conclude with some tunes from Vera and other local musicians. Presentations will also be made to the winners of the schools’ art and poetry competitions.

There will also be on-street craft exhibitions, which will include wood turning, tin smith, straw and basket weaver to mention a few. There will also be an historic walking tour of Ballinasloe, historically a planned town which was built and developed by the Earls of Clancarthy on the river Suck, which traditionally was the crossing point into the West of Ireland.

Sunday will see one of the weekend’s highlights, The 1st Larry Reynolds Open All-Ireland U-18 Fiddle Competition, which will take place in Scoil an Chroí Naofa on Society Street. There will be a prize fund of €250 and a perpetual cup for the winner, which will be presented by Larry Reynolds Jnr from Boston.

Other events on that day include Mass with local trad musicians; a singers circle event in The Pillar House; a céilí in Hayden’s Hotel with the Glenside Céilí Band; a junior seisiún in The Dunlo Tavern; a concert by the newly formed trad group, Gatehouse, who have just released their CD, Tús Nua; and there will be many open seisúin throughout the weekend.

■ Further details and tickets can be found on www.larry reynoldsweekend.com, or call 087 9046140.