UACHTARÁN NA hÉireann, Michael D Higgins, will officially open the inaugural PJ Conlon Festival, in Milltown, north County Galway, this weekend.
The festival, which celebrates the life and music of the renowned accordionist PJ Conlon, runs from today to Bank Holiday Monday, with the official opening by the President at the gala concert on Friday.
The concert will feature the acclaimed fiddle and banjo player John Carty, singer-songwriter John Faulkner, as well as Andrew Mc Namara, Charlie Piggott, Breda and Claire Keville, and Aine Sheridan.
There will also be instrument workshops, workshops in song and dance, children’s day camp, guided heritage walk, lectures on Conlon’s music and life, Bardic breakfast, a concert with Maigh Seola on Sunday, and trad sessions.
Regarded as an accordion player supreme Peter ‘PJ’ Conlon emigrated to New York in 1912 where he became a much sought after musician. He was one of the first traditional Irish-American musicians to be recorded and went on to have an illustrious recording career making 52 record sides between 1917 and 1929.
For more information see www.pjfestival.com
