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text: Rob Jastrzebski photography: Marnix Heijnemans |
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| The Celtic Shop Irish Folk Festival saturday, 15 & 16 april 2000 |
The Celtic Shop
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| Irish music, dance and culture are currently very popular in The Netherlands. The various
concert-tours and Celtic festivals that are organised around the country through the year prove this. The most
significant Celtic event in The Netherlands is undoubtedly the 'Celtic Shop Irish Folk Festival' in Bergen op Zoom
in the Southwest of the Netherlands. The festival is organised by the Celtic Shop in association with Peter Boone
Music promotions. It is probably not one the bigger festivals in the world, but certainly an event of high musical
quality, due to the selection of artists. The festival is organised each year in the weekend before Easter. |
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The Exiles
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This year, The Celtic Shop Irish Folkfestival 2000 was the sixth edition, featuring
the following artists: Liam O'Flynn, Máirín Fahy, Niamh Parsons, Ronnie Drew,
Patsy Watchorn and
The Exiles. The festival
took place on April 15th and 16th. Nearly 2000 visitors attended the festival. This year it was the second time
that the festival took two days, offering the same program on both days. Organiser Henk de Koning, owner of The
Celtic Shop, explains the formula.
"We started the festival six years ago as a special act of attention to our regular customers, with the
intention of a unique event only. That year we had 800 visitors. However it was such a big success, that the visitors
asked for a second edition in the next year. From that moment on the festival has been growing year after year
and so has the quality of the artists. The first years the program consisted mainly of pub-songs, but soon we managed
in getting highly qualified artists on stage. The problem that became more and more obvious during the first four
years was that we had to disappoint a lot of people each year because no tickets were available anymore. The theatre
can handle 1000 to 1200 visitors and that's the maximum we want. We don't want to recreate the festival into a
mass-event. We want to keep it in a homelike atmosphere. That's what makes this festival special to most of the
visitors: the close distance between the artists and the audience. For this reason we decided to add a second day
and to repeat the program on the second day. I consider it an important goal to give as many people as possible
the opportunity to watch the program. For the same reason we keep the price of the tickets as low as possible." |
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Dave Munelly
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Niamh Parsons
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| Artists selection |
| It gives Henk no problem to find the artists to complete the program. Due to his activities
in the Irish 'scene' and his contacts in Ireland and other 'Celtic' regions, he knows a lot of artists in person.
Ronnie Drew for example, former founder of the famous Dubliners, and one of the stars performing in the 2000-edition
of the festival, is one of them. But sometimes it is just a matter of being in the right place on the right time.
This is for example how he was able to get Máirín Fahy to the festival: "I visited Riverdance
in Oberhausen, Germany in 1997. Máirín Fahy joined Riverdance about a year before and right in front
of an Irish pub, situated near the Oberhausen-Arena, I watched and heard this marvellous woman play on her fiddle.
The first thing that came on my mind was: 'I have to get her to the festival one day!' And that's how she reached
the stage in Bergen op Zoom finally." |
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| International artists, international audience |
| As a result of the growing quality of the program, the range of the audience is also
extending. Henk de Koning: "We do have a growing number of visitors from England, Ireland and Scotland
that come to Bergen op Zoom to see the festival each year. That's a sign of the quality the artists offer to the
audience." |
| Among the audience the festival has a special guest almost every year. John Swift, ambassador of Ireland
in The Netherlands, says he tries to attend the program whenever possible in his schedule. This year again he didn't
miss the event. Answering the question whether he is a proud man, Swift says: "Oh yes, certainly I am.
I'm pleasantly surprised by the big interest Ireland has in The Netherlands. It's not just dancing but also music
and other sections of culture that show a growing interest. Of course the big dancing shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance have had a great contribution
in this movement, which is also apparent in other countries. But other Irish artists fuel the propagation of Irish
culture too. There are a lot of good Irish artists touring the world today. In fact all these artists are the real
ambassadors of our country!" |
Máirin Fahy
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O'Carolans Dance Squad
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The ambassador, loyal to his Irish blood, is of course a lover of Irish dancing. That's
why he watched the Irish dancing act during the festival with special interest. The act is performed by the O'Carolan's Dance Squad, sponsored
and founded by the O'Carolan's traditional Irish Pub, related to the Celtic Shop. After the dance-act Swift gives
his opinion on the dance-revolution started by Riverdance in 1994. "Riverdance as well as Lord of the Dance
have introduced a new style of Irish dancing, which is less straight and less strictly ruled than the traditional
way of Irish dancing. In a certain way modern Irish dancing is more... 'sexual'... Am I allowed to say that? My
favourite style? I like both modern and traditional dancing!" |
| Climax on stage |
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The sixth Celtic Shop Irish Folkfestival in the Netherlands offered a brilliant combination
of artists, a mixture of 'pure' music and entertainment. Great names appeared on stage, like Ronnie Drew, founder of the famous Dubliners, who started a solocareer
in 1994, searching for 'something different'. Another great name is Liam
O'Flynn and The Pipers Call Band. Liam was introduced to the audience as
one of the best musicians in the world and the best Uilleann pipe-player ever. Nothing wrong said with that. Liam
and his band created wonderful soundscapes on both Uilleann pipes and whistles, mixing slow emotional songs and
dynamic rhythms.
Niamh Parsons, introduced
in the program as 'One of these voices', translated wonderful ballads with her warm deep and crystal clear voice.
The way she expresses her 'experiences of life' in music is very emotional.
And of course Máirín Fahy, the well known Riverdance-fiddler who also has a significant career on
her own and with the band 'Reeltime'. She is called an 'athlete of the bow' and watching her and listening to her
sound, you can only confirm that title.
The program was completed by performances of Patsy Watchorn, 'the king of balladeers' and entertainer of great quality who has a career of some 30 years
behind him, and The Exiles,
the Holland-based Irish formation bringing Irish rock as well as sensitive ballads. The Exiles perform regularly
in the traditional pub O'Carolan's in Bergen op Zoom.
Although all the artists have their own style and rhythm, the absolute climax of the festival was to watch them
live on stage together during the end of the program. It was one big celebration and eruption of Irish mood and
energy, which reflects the atmosphere that must be present in any Irish pub or theatre on 'the green Island'. With
the audience, the artists and the organisers satisfied about the success of the sixth edition, the festival closed
its doors, but preparations for the next edition in 2001 will start soon. Considering the evolution of the festival
so far, next year's edition has the promise for another great Celtic event! |
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Ronnie Drew
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Arty McGlynn and Tommy Hayes
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Liam O'Flynn
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text: Rob Jastrzebski
photography: Marnix Heijnemans |
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