BELFAST TradFest, who are this year celebrating their fifth anniversary have launched a new whiskey session trail to accompany the festival by partnering with a local whiskey brewer.

The whiskey trail will be sponsored by McConnell's Irish Whisky during the festival which runs from 23 to 30 July.  Sessions will take place across some of Belfast's most famous bars including Maddens Bar, The Garrick, The Second Fiddle, The Sunflower Bar, The Deer’s Head, Kelly’s Cellars and many more. All sessions are free to enter and will last two hours.

Belfast TradFest is quickly becoming one of Ireland’s leading festivals of traditional music. This year the festival will also celebrate Belfast being award a UNESCO City of Music for it's culture of music throughout the city.

Some of the musicians who will be playing at the whiskey trail sessions include big names in the trad scene such as Joanie Madden, Neil Martin, Mary Bergin, Bríd Harper, Gerry ‘Banjo’ O’Connor, Siobhán Peoples, John Doyle and includes local heroes like Paul ‘The Brother’ Maguire, Francis McIlduff and Maeve O’Donnell and Joshua Burnside.

This year’s session trail will pioneer Listening Sessions. This style reflects the céilí house traditions from previous centuries, where aspiring musicians and listeners gather at the home of a master musician. The sessions offer the aspiring musician an opportunity to listen and observe music played by musicians of the highest calibre for the first hour and then the floor is opened to all to participate. 

The launch was accompanied by many of the musicians who will be not only playing but also offering tutorials which one can attend throughout the festival, including the absolutely brilliant Len Graham, one of the last living pioneers of the Ulster Irish folk singing tradition who delivered a rousing rendition of 'Son of a Gambolier'.

This year our session trail will take place in fifteen of Belfast’s finest traditional pubs.

McConnell's Irish Whisky was a famous whiskey company originally founded in 1776. From then until the 1930s it had a solid presence in Belfast until it was affected by a large fire at one of its storehouses and the loss of sales following the adoption of prohibition in the USA in 1920. It has subsequently been revived and brought back to life with the company opening a new distillery in Crumlin Road Gaol later this year.

Speaking at the launch Belfast Lord Mayor, Councillor Ryan Murphy said: “I can’t wait to see our beautiful UNESCO city of music come alive with traditional music and dance in the last week of July, celebrating Belfast’s undeniable talent. It’s fantastic that the Belfast TradFest McConnell’s Irish Whisky Session Trail will be making these artforms even more accessible to new audiences – both Belfast residents and our many welcome summer visitors – offering free sessions with some of the best contemporary talent.”

Hosting the event, Dónal O’Connor, Belfast TradFest Artistic Director, said: "We’re delighted to partner with McConnell’s Irish Whisky for the Belfast TradFest 2023 Session Trail. This year our session trail will take place in fifteen of Belfast’s finest traditional pubs. We have programmed some of the finest traditional musicians on the planet for over sixty free sessions. Like McConnell’s Irish Whisky, Belfast TradFest honours tradition and we have great pride in Belfast and its musicians. Our Session Trail truly captures the spirit of Belfast and is not to be missed!"

Sarah Kennedy from McConnell’s Irish Whisky, added: “At McConnell’s, we are big supporters of all things arts and culture so to support Belfast TradFest is the perfect fit for us.  We know only too well what a vibrant bar scene we have in Belfast, but exploring many of these iconic venues along with some of the most exciting names in traditional music is really special. We are looking forward to enjoying the music, the atmosphere and, of course, sharing McConnell’s Irish Whisky with those who join us on the trail!” 

For the full Belfast TradFest 2023 programme visit www.belfasttraditionalmusic.com