The 20th anniversary Fiddle Fair is only a few days away and excitement is building here in Baltimore.

The opening concert with Any Old Time is now sold out and tickets for all other shows are going quickly, so if you haven't already booked then you better hurry up to avoid disappointment. You can either buy tickets right here on the website or if you prefer you can call us on 086 3753380 to reserve a space.

The workshops are almost full as well so give us a call if you want to partake.

It is great to see such interest in our birthday party and amazing to see the different journeys people are making to get here next week. Whether you're coming from Australia, Japan, USA, Denmark, Germany, France, England, Scotland or Wales ... or Galway, Dublin, Belfast or Dingle ... or Cork, Ballydehob, Skibbereen or Clonakilty, we really appreciate your efforts to come to our festival and look forward to meeting you all next week.

Yeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The Fiddle Fair director Declan McCarthy appears on RTÉ Lyric FM Grace Notes with Ellen Cranitch. Listen to the archive here. The interview starts at 22:35.

Thursday 10th 6pm - Jacobs Bar

Fiddle Fair are proud to present the Irish Premiere screening of John Doherty - Ar Leirg na Gaoithe with an introduction by director Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde.

A film of a young musician's exploration into the legacy of his musical hero John Doherty!

Donegal fiddle player, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, goes in search of his musical hero, John Doherty, a man who died before Ciarán was born. He attempts to build a picture of his hero from the folklore and stories that he collects and attempts to get a closer understanding of the master fiddler's life and achievements. John Doherty is one of the most influential and important musicians to come from Donegal and has had a very strong influence on traditional Donegal music. With newly found archival recordings and the memories that remain among the older generation who knew him, coupled with Ciarán's enthusiasm in finding out more about his hero, this film attempts to give a clearer picture of and explore the myth of virtuoso fiddler John Simí Doherty. This hour-long documentary was produced by Éabhlóid for TG4 and will be shown on TG4 in autumn 2012.

We are delighted to announce a top-class line-up of 'masters' for our workshops this year. As well as 4 world-class fiddle workshops we are also pleased to welcome back Nic Gareiss and Cleek Schrey for their dance workshop which proved such a big hit last year. And also a workshop with the 'guitarist-with-the-most-FF-caps', John Doyle

Places for all the workshops are limited so advance booking is advised.

All of the 90 minute Fiddle and the Guitar Workshops are for handy/advanced players only and cost €20 each.

The Clogging Workshop costs €10 and should be great fun and total beginners are very welcome.

Discounts are available for anyone attending multiple workshops.

To book a place call 086 3753380 or e-mail declan@fiddlefair.com.

Friday

5pm Glebe Gardens: Fiddle with Tim O'Brien

Saturday

11am Fiddle Fair Marquee: American Clogging with Nic Gareiss and Cleek Schrey

2pm Baltimore Sailing Club: Fiddle with Kevin Burke

5pm Glenans Sailing School: Old Time Fiddle with Dirk Powell & Sammy Lind

6pm Lifeboat Cafe: Guitar with John Doyle

Sunday

11am Inish Beg: Fiddle with Ciaran Tourish

We are all getting excited about the 20th Anniversary of the Fiddle Fair and can't wait to see you and yours in sunny Baltimore.

As you may have seen on the website, funding for the Fiddle Fair got cut this year in line with government cutbacks across the country. This is of course an unfortunate sign of the times in this difficult economy, but it has created a real question as to the survival of the Fiddle Fair. The last thing we want to do is raise ticket prices, so to mark 20 years of this very special festival, we are delighted to announce the launch of "Friends of the Fiddle Fair." This is your way to make a special donation to help the Fiddle Fair cover its costs this year and beyond, ensuring the future of this wonderful musical gathering.

Based on the response to our appeal, we will establish a tiered system of perks for Friends, with some potential treats including advance access to tickets for Fiddle Fair events and a mention in a special section on our website. Star patrons (above €100) will get preferential seating at Fiddle Fair events while superstar donors (above €250) will get a chance to mingle with musicians and other extra-special perks. If you'd prefer to make an anonymous donation, that's fine too. It will really help.

There is something so very unique about this festival, as evidenced year after year by the musicians who want to come back and the wonderful audiences and fans who travel to our tiny corner of West Cork. For us, it really is a Fiddle Fair family. We know that times are tough, but every euro, pound, and dollar will help. We would very much like to thank all those who have donated to the Fiddle Fair over these 20 years, who will automatically become inaugural members of Friends of the Fiddle Fair. You know who you are!

We have set up a PayPal donation link to our "Friends Fund" here on the website here. If you prefer to send a direct donation, cheques made payable to Baltimore Fiddle Fair can be sent to "Friends Fund, 54 Mardyke Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork, Ireland.

If you have questions or concerns, please email friends@fiddlefair.com.

Warmest regards and see you in May! Hup!

Gráinne, Cliodhna, and Suzy

Due to circumstances beyond our control we have had to swap the two lunchtime gigs at Dun na Sead (Blame Laoise ;-)

So Laoise Kelly and Michelle O'Brien is now on Saturday 12th and Dermot McLaughlin is on Sunday 13th. If you have already purchased tickets for either of these shows they will of course be valid for the new date, and for the same day if you wish.

Funding Cuts

Unfortunately, like many arts organisations, our funding has been significantly cut for this year. We understand the difficult position our funding bodies find themselves in due to the chronic state of the nations finances and whilst we are disappointed, we are still very grateful for the funding which we are receiving and appreciate the fantastic work that the Arts Council and others are doing on behalf of organisations like ourselves.

If any of you have any ideas about how we might cover the shortfall then we'd love to hear them - all suggestions and particularly all donations gratefully accepted.

No matter what though we will still have a serious birthday party here in May.

Otherwise things are building up pretty nicely for the festival and judging from ticket sales its going to be a sell-out. Its amazing to see all the different nationalities that will be making their way to Baltimore and we look forward to seeing you all.

All the best for now,

Declan

We are delighted to announce our full line-up of very special concerts for the 'birthday party' and tickets are now on sale! We hope you'll agree that its going to be great festival :)

Please note that all concerts have limited availability, particularly the ones at Dun na Sead, so book early to avoid disappointment.

We will be adding info about workshops, sessions, films, exhibitions and lots lots more in the coming days but in the meantime just make sure you've got the time off!

Hi Folks,

Only a short while now until we celebrate our 20th anniversary and Fiddle Fair is delighted to announce a truly stellar line-up, featuring our favourite acts from the past 20 years. Tickets will go on sale as soon as the line-up is complete. Ticket prices for the night time shows are listed below. Remember you can also purchase a season pass for all shows for €125 (saving €50).

The lunchtime and afternoon concerts will be announced in the coming days but in the meantime we are sure you'll agree that we have 5 magical nights to look forward to:

Wed 9th - Dun na Sead Castle €15
ANY OLD TIME

Thurs 10th - Fiddle Fair Marquee €25
MARTIN HAYES & DENNIS CAHILL
CAOIMHIN O RAGHALLAIGH, CLEEK SCHREY & NIC GAREISS

Fri 11th - Fiddle Fair Marquee €25
THE FOGHORN STRING BAND with special guest DIRK POWELL
CATHAL HAYDEN & ARTY MCGLYNN

SAT 12th - Fiddle Fair Marquee €25
ALTAN
FRANKIE LANE & DERMIE DIAMOND

Sun 13th - Fiddle Fair Marquee €25
KEVIN BURKE & TIM O'BRIEN (Irish Premiere)
DEZI DONNELLY, MIKE MCGOLDRICK, JIM MURRAY & JOHN JOE KELLY

Declan

The astute amongst you may have noticed that we were supposed to put tickets on sale on the 1st February so apologies to those of you who have been waiting by your computers with your credit card in your hands. We were working at Celtic Connections again this year and then travelling around with the Transatlantic Sessions so the finalizing of the Fiddle Fair line-up ran a little overtime. So it's all Celtic Connections fault :-) (a great festival by the way).

All good things come to those who wait however and we truly do have an amazing array of our all-time Fiddle Fair favourite acts coming back this year for our 20th birthday party.

We did mention in our last post that we were toying with the idea of not revealing our line-up and asked for your thoughts. Some people said they'd be quite happy for the whole thing to be a surprise but the majority said they'd like to know who's playing so in the next few days we will be announcing most of the line-up - we're very excited and know you will be too!

All the best,

Declan

The Baltimore Fiddle Fair celebrates its 20th anniversary next year and it promises to be a very special birthday bash.

It certainly doesn’t feel like 20 years ago that we got the idea to have a fiddle festival but time waits for no one and the clock doesn't lie.

Conceived as an idea to try and entice Nigel Kennedy to come to Baltimore, the very first Fiddle Fair consisted of two weekends of music in the birthplace of the festival, McCarthy's Bar. Acts included 'Waterboy' Steve Wickham, Nomos, Any Old Time, Dordán, and the late, great Seamus Creagh.

From that humble beginning the festival has grown a little in size and a lot in stature. It is still a small festival but it has a big reputation and has played host to many of the leading names in traditional and folk music from all around the world.

Next May many of our very favourite acts from the past 20 years will be returning to Baltimore for the party - who do you think might be here?

Early Bird Season Tickets will go on sale on Monday December12th and will make a perfect Christmas present.
The line-up may be announced on 1st February but we are toying with the idea of keeping everything under wraps so that you won’t know who’s playing until they walk on stage - let us know what you think of that idea?

Either way we can guarantee that the line-up will be the best ever and that everything will sell out very quickly. So book your holiday now and come on down to Baltimore next May for our very special birthday party.

Happy Christmas,

Declan