• Open Ear 2022

    April 8, 2022 - By 

    If there’s a better Irish music festival than Open Ear we honestly haven’t heard of it. Across 3-5th June, the supremely-curated weekender returns to the blissful environs of Sherkin Island off Cork for its first edition since 2019 (and what an unforgettable experience that was). With more acts yet to be announced for the June Bank Holiday blow-out, the festival have recently announced part A of this year’s line-up. Featuring a whole raft of TTA favourites, among them Acid Granny, Jane Deasy, Olivia Furey, the Department of Energy and Fulacht Fia, it’s another masterfully balanced mix of palette-spanning electronic and…

  • First Acts Announced For Another Love Story 2022

    July 16, 2021 - By 

    Consistently one of Ireland’s most well-curated festivals, Another Love Story has announced the first selection of artists set to play next year’s edition. The 2022 edition is set to return to the rolling meadows and cosy corners of Killyon Manor, Co. Meath, on August 19th-21st, and the first names seem a positive indicator for the kind of tastefully-selected eclecticism typically on display at the festival. Set to play are legendary Manchester selector, event creator & personality Luke Una, emerging Irish composer & singer-songwriter Rachael Lavelle, Berghain regular Barker, Choice Prize nominee Niamh Regan, live electronics from Leipzig’s Map.Ache, and Cork psych outfit The Altered Hours. Tickets are on sale now and available here, priced…

  • MusicTown 2021

    April 13, 2021 - By 

    Of the myriad annual events, series and festivals that tap into what makes Dublin a truly world-beating creative city, MusicTown feels special. Suffice to say,  shining a light on the city – and the Irish music and arc community at large – has never felt more important, which is why the series’ return across April 15th-25th is one we’re marking down as unmissable. Setting out, as ever, to celebrate the rich music heritage and contemporary artistic lifeblood of the city, the series boasts yet another masterfully mottled schedule across ten days and nights. Kicking off with Cathy Davey, live at the Pepper Canister…

  • Celtronic 2020: Together-Apart

    June 30, 2020 - By 

    For the last 20 years, Celtronic has been a vital part of the island’s world-beating festival scene. Uniting some of the very best names in electronic music worldwide with all Ireland has to offer, its annual, forward-pushing presence in Derry has been an unwavering joy to behold. As with so many other festivals, big and small, organisers have had to think outside the box to make this year’s outing a reality. Cue Celtronic 2020: Together-Apart. Taking place online from Tuesday June 20th to Sunday July 5th, this year’s festival will feature over 100 hours of exclusive performances from more than 60…

  • Half Moon Festival 2020

    June 17, 2020 - By 

    Originally due to be launched as a multi-venue series at The Kino in Cork back in March, the inaugural Half Moon Festival will take place online from Friday, June 26th to Sunday, June 28th. No doubt likely to return in its full form next year, the line-up for this year’s inaugural outing offers up a stellar, multi-disciplinary series of music, performance, podcasting and beyond. Inspired by the way in which Cork’s Half Moon street “acts as a bridge between everyday life and the cultural spaces that are central to Cork,” the inaugural outing will feature Trá Pháidín, Síomha, Pulses featuring…

  • Brilliant Corners 2020

    February 20, 2020 - By 

    A remarkably consistent, ever-rewarding peak of the Irish festival calendar over the last eight years, Brilliant Corners can lay claim to being the island’s most carefully-curated jazz festival. Packing out (all being well) a mélange of Belfast’s finest venues and bars – both big and small – from February 27 to March 8, this year’s bill is a suitably essential affair. Curated, as ever, by the clued-in heads at Moving on Music, acts and events as mottled as the Mercury Prize-nominated Dinosaur, Athens, Georgia trailblazers Kenosha Kid, the always compelling Joseph Leighton Quartet, Wood River and the downright unmissable Parker/Niblock/Sanders will take over the likes…

  • Other Voices Ballina 2020

    February 10, 2020 - By 

    With just over three weeks to go, the final acts for this year’s Other Voices Ballina have been announced. Returning to the Co. Mayo town across February 28-29, the festival will welcome David Gray, Kildare’s JYellowl, Soda Blonde, JC Stewart and The Howl & The Hum. Joining the likes of previously announced acts including Elbow and Jesca Hoop, the acts will perform within the 225-year-old walls of St. Michael’s Church over the two days and nights. Beyond the church is the Other Voices Ballina music trail, featuring Irish acts including Joel Harkin, Murli, Shookrah, The Mary Wallopers and Squarehead. Check out…

  • Spilt Milk Festival 2019

    November 21, 2019 - By 

    The brainchild of one of the country’s finest imprints, Art For Blind, Split Milk is a brand new audio-visual festival in Sligo. Bringing together national and international artists to perform and exhibit in intimate venues across Sligo Town alongside emerging local artists, the three-day festival will take place across November 22-24. And the festival’s inaugural line-up is quite something. Including several TTA favourites, Percolator, Landless (pictured), Aoife Nessa Frances, Katie Geraldine O’Neill, Problem Patterns, Ensemble Economique, Jusme ft. Farid Williams, Gulpt, BB84, Dult, Spekulativ Fiktion, Rachael Lavelle, Diarmuid McDiarmada and Marge Bouvier will perform across the weekend. Better yet, there will be film…

  • Wanda: Feminism and Moving Image

    October 29, 2019 - By 

    Belfast’s feminist film festival, WANDA: Feminism & Moving Image, returns for its second outing later this week. Opening on Thursday, October 31st and running until Sunday, November 3, the festival have pulled out the stops to present a wonderfully diverse programme, spanning new and retrospective films and features directed by women. Launching at Queen’s Film Theatre with The Juniper Tree, this year’s programme features, among many other screenings, discussions and panels across the city, the NI premiere of Kim Longinotto’s critically-acclaimed Irish-produced documentary Shooting the Mafia. Co-director Rose Baker said, “As the festival’s key aim is to revisit ‘lost’ films by…

  • Sounds Of The Undergrowth: Open Ear redefines what an Irish festival can be

    June 11, 2019 - By 

    If there was ever a space to disprove the absurd notion that the world of Irish independent music is disjointed or lacks community it would be Open Ear – Not that it needed disproving. For the past four years, the small festival on Cork’s Sherkin Island has shone a light on a countrywide scene that has, for some decades now, been quietly growing – thriving in the undergrowth. Expanding this year to a capacity of roughly 600 attendees, Open Ear’s celebration of Ireland’s experimental music scene, from its stalwarts to its adventurous young artists, is a testament to the unity and…