The 20th Annual South Buffalo Irish Festival is upon us. This celebration of Irish music and culture is set to be the best yet. That’s because there will be three stages (hannah, city, & trad), filled with some of the best Irish music in the land.
“Our board has been hard at work scheduling the normal entertainment/food vendors etc that everyone is accustomed to for the Saturday event,” said Paul Blake, of Can You Dig It, Inc. “However this year we are expanding the cultural aspect of this festival to include some workshops the night before at the Buffalo Irish Center on Abbott Rd. The board is very excited about adding this program to our event!”
This year’s festival will also include vendors, a Kid’s Stage, and plenty to eat and drink.
The 20th Annual South Buffalo Irish Festival presents its inaugural cultural program:
Culture Circle / Fáinne Cultúrtha
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Festival, this culture circle will include a singers workshop, an open panel Conversation, and a Festival Club. In the coming years the scope of Cultural Circle will grow with the intention of archiving and honoring the voices and stories that gather every year to make this festival, and this part of the world, a heritage to be treasured.
Singers Workshop Circle
Sean Nós Singing Circle
Friday, September 3, 2021 | 4-6pm, Location TBD
Open to singers of all ages and of any style. Come and learn to sing a song in the Sean Nós style of Irish traditional music with Owen Ó Súilleabháin. In the Irish language Sean Nós means ‘Old Style.’ This is the oldest style of singing from Ireland stretching back to at least the pre-Christian times, 1,500 years ago. When the young boy Saint Patrick was taken as a slave by Irish pirates, the people he encountered in Ireland may have been singing their songs in this style. Following is a recording of one of the songs Owen will teach. Here he is singing with his brother Mícheál and their mother Nóirín Ní Riain.
Conversation Circle
What Does Being an Irish American Really Mean?
Friday, September 3, 2021
6–8pm
Location: Buffalo Irish Center
What it means to be Irish American has dramatically changed over the centuries that people from that island have migrated to the USA. And being Irish American can be quite a different experience in different parts of the country. Join in on this conversation, led by a panel of people from South Buffalo, as they ask some searching questions about what it has means to be Irish in this part of the world. What is being lost that must be preserved and archived, what needs to be let go, and what are some of the dreams and promises that the future may hold?
Festival Club Circle
Friday, September 3 & Saturday, September 4
9pm till late
Location: Buffalo Irish Center
Bring your instrument or your listening ear and join in on the session at the S-BIF Festival Club.
The South Buffalo Irish Festival
Saturday at Cazenovia Park
Learn more about the music acts
See Facebook for additional information
Free!