101

Things to do

Singing, jamming and jigging at Copenhagen’s Irish Festival – 40 years old this week

Laura Geigenberger
November 1st, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

Irish music is at the heart of the country’s culture and history, keeping its traditions alive and vital whilst appealing to audiences on a global scale.

One of Europe’s most international capitals, Copenhagen, has thus been host to a colourful, ostentatious celebration of Ireland for almost four decades.

READ ALSO: Danish-Irish conquests: pillaging, pubs and the Paddy’s Day phenomenon

This year, the Copenhagen Irish Festival will be a particularly special event as it will mark its 40th anniversary at Kulturstationen Vanløse between November 2 and 3.

Expect nothing but the best
The line-up consists of four of the best singers and bands on Ireland’s current music scene who, over the past three decades, have enriched traditional Irish music with their talents, interpretations and songwriting.

The band Dervish, with the established Cathy Jordan on the mic, and the 13-studio-album-heavy ‘Altan’ will be contrasted by sol performances from Karan Casey, famous for her work in ‘The Seamaiden: The Celtic Musical’, as well as the award-winning Cara Dillon.

Join jam and jig
In addition to the music acts, the Irish Festival also offers free film and coffee afternoons as well as a chance for both amateur and professional musicians to join open jam sessions at the Irish Festival Café.

And those willing to learn the Irish jig shouldn’t miss the Irish Dance Ball – known as ‘céilí’ in Gaelic – where the Dark Green School of Irish together with the Copenhagen Irish Set Dancers will offer instruction and a helping hand from their most experienced dancers.

 


Share

Most popular

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to receive The Daily Post

















Latest Podcast

A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”