Fleadhfest 2021 – the first online Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann – took place between 1st – 9th August and included 9 days of live concerts, sessions, lectures and competitions, which were streamed to audiences worldwide. The festival – the only traditional music festival taking place in Ireland this year – was watched by thousands of people every day and the response to the live music was both positive and widespread.

Fleadhfest came about in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and having submitted a competitive bid, Sligo were lucky enough to be chosen to host the event. Last year the Fleadh Cheoil, a public event which usually draws tens of thousands of people for a musical street carnival, had to be cancelled due to fears about public safety as the pandemic took hold. This year, the Comhaltas and Fleadhfest teams met early in the year to plan a new virtual event, and Fleadhfest was the result. The event was run as a community and voluntary endeavour and funding from Creative Ireland along with other funders was extremely valuable in supporting artists and the community to come together to deliver a state of the art professional cultural experience.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.