Skip to main content

Dervish, Eileen Ivers, Robbie O'Connell, Enter the Haggis and more Top Irish Bands Performing in New England this Summer

Dervish, Performing at Lowell Folk Festival

(Boston) – The Boston Irish Tourism Association has released its annual schedule of outdoor festivals and concerts featuring Irish and Celtic music throughout the New England region and upstate New York.

Kicking off this year’s schedule is the 1st annual Summer Solstice Festival, taking place on Saturday, June 18, 2011 at Diamond Hill Park in Cumberland, RI.  Organized by the Blackstone River Theatre, a non-profit group promoting culture and the arts year round, this year’s festival features Aoife Clancy and Robbie O’Connell, the Heatons, Pendragon, Annalivia, atwater-Donnelly Trio and more.  With five stages, there’s continuous music, set dancing and ceili dancing throughout the day, as well as children’s area, vendors and food and craft vendors.

The 17th annual Catskills Irish Arts Week, in East Durham, NY, takes place July 10-16, 2011, and features some of the world’s best Irish musicians, singers and dancers.  It’s a summer school format, with over 75 teachers, 120 daily classes and workshops, and nightly concerts and sessions.  The week culminates in an all-day music festival on Saturday, July 16 from noon to 7:00 p.m.

The 18th annual Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival takes place on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at Look Park in Florence, MA, just next to Northampton.  The festival features Canadian group, Enter the Haggis, Boston Blackthorne, the Bell Family, Charlie Zahm, as well as clan gatherings, Scottish games, food courts and vendors, spinning and weaving demonstrations and more traditional folk arts.

On July 26 the 2nd annual Cape Cod Irish SummerFest takes place at the Melody Tent in Hyannis on Cape Cod, MA.  Organized by the Sons of Erin and the Cape Cod St. Patrick’s Day Parade committee, it’s a great day and night of Irish music and dancing, food vendors and crafts.

The 25th Lowell Folk Festival takes place in Lowell, MA on July 29-31 in downtown Lowell’s National Park.  Featuring six stages of traditional ethnic music, authentic crafts, ethnic foods and activities for children, this year’s Festival features Irish traditional band Dervish, along with various performers representing dozens of cultures.

On September 3-5, the 13th annual Newport Waterfront Irish Festival takes place at the Newport Yachting Center in downtown Newport, RI.  This Labor-Day festival features fiddle star Eileen Ivers and her band Immigrant Soul, the Screaming Orphans, Makem & Spain Brothers, and more.  There’s a special snug package available this year that provides VIP amenities and opportunities for guests.

On September 16-18, the 36th annual New Hampshire Highland Games take place at Loon Mountain, NH.  Billed as the largest Scottish gathering in the northeast, the Highland Games includes continuous Scottish music and dancing, athletic games, bagpipe bands, arts and crafts and plenty of Scottish food and beverages, vendors, and family-activities.

 For details on other concerts and dances, theater and literary events, cultural activities and festivities year round, visit IrishMassachusetts.com. 

To find out about Irish-American heritage and history in Boston, visit IrishHeritageTrail.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boston Celtics : The Story Behind Their Irish Green Theme

Bill Russell played for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1959 (This story was updated in March 2024) Many people wonder why the  Boston Celtics  wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why is the team mascot a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtic’s official web site, the name came about in 1946 when owner Walter Brown started the team. He and his public relations guy, Howie McHugh, were throwing out potential nicknames, including the Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics. It was Brown who had the epiphany, saying, “Wait, I’ve got it – the Celtics. The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York (1920s). And Boston is full of Irishman. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.” Red Auerbach , the now legendary coach of the early Celtics, then commissioned his brother Zang, a graphic designer i
Post a Comment
Read more

Boston Mayors of Irish Descent, 1885-2021

(Originally published in 2013, this post was updated in 2021) Here are the Mayors of Boston Claiming Irish Heritage:  Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh   2014- 2021 The lineage of Boston mayors with Irish ancestry dates back to 1885, when Irish immigrant Hugh O'Brien of County Cork assumed office and became the first Irish-born mayor elected in Boston, serving four one-year terms (1885-88).   O'Brien was followed by Irish-born Patrick Collins (1902-05), also of County Cork, who died in office in 1905. He was replaced by John F. Fitzgerald, who became the first American-born mayor of Irish descent, serving two terms.  A noteworthy mayor was James
Post a Comment
Read more

Visit these Public Memorials to John Boyle O'Reilly throughout Massachusetts

  Born 180 years ago on June 28, 1844, John Boyle O’Reilly helped shape the history or Ireland and America in the late 19th century in powerful ways. Today, O'Reilly’s stature as a seminal figure in Irish and Irish-American history is particularly evident in his beloved birthplace of Dowth, County Meath; in Freemantle, Australia where he was imprisoned; and indeed, throughout the Irish Diaspora.  O'REILLY LANDMARKS IN MASSACHUSETTS O’Reilly remains popular in Boston, New Bedford, Hull and Springfield where there is a selection of memorials and plaques, parks and city squares, library collections and Irish organizations honoring O’Reilly’s memory. In Boston, the John Boyle O’Reilly Memorial at the corner of Boylston Street and The Fens, not far from Fenway Park, was unveiled in 1896 by famed Concord sculptor Daniel French. The Memorial is part of Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail. In Charlestown, O’Reilly lived at 34 Winthrop Street, where there is a plaque in his honor. In 1988 th
Post a Comment
Read more