The brainchild of Dale McKay & Siobhan Buckley, Portlaoise Trad Fest was established in 2023 with the aim of showcasing the wonderful talent and the hunger there is for traditional music in Co Laois.

In late 2022 Dale Mckay approached Siobhan Buckley with the idea of creating Portlaoise’s first ever Irish Traditional Music Festival. Siobhan agreed it was a great idea and here we are a few months later with fully fledged team dedicated to creating a festival full of fun, music and community. All our members are well respected musicians, teachers and experts in their areas. We are looking forward to molding all our unique skills together to see what we can create and achieve with Portlaoise Trad Fest.

On the team we have:

Dale Mckay – Chairperson and Spokesperson

Bill O’Brien – Vice Chair

Ruaidhri Tierney – Secretary

Chloe Finlay – Social Media and Pr Officer

David Harte – Session Trail Officer

County Laois has an amazing Irish Traditional Scene. Between the tutorage from both Music Generation Laois and Comhaltas, the young players of the county are outstanding. The Portlaoise Trad Fest team feel it is the right time to showcase the talented musicianship found in Laois on the national stage. One of Portlaoise Trad Fest’s aim is to create a vibrant session scene in Portlaoise. As well as featuring local musicians, the festival will also bring top quality musicians to ‘The Town’, inspiring the upcoming younger musicians.

Portlaoise Trad Fest is for everyone. We know how much fun and enjoyable Irish Traditional Music can be. It has the power to change lives and we want to bring that energy to the community at large and show the people of Portlaoise how brilliant and exciting our traditional music is.

Portlaoise Trad fest runs on the 3rd & 5th of May 2024. We plan to run concerts, workshops, youth session and a session trail, never before seen in Portlaoise. We look forward to bringing the streets of Portlaoise alive with the sound of Irish Music over the May bank holiday weekend and we hope you will join us.