At Home and Abroad

Ray Blackwell talks about The Clon Guitar Fest The Clonakilty International Guitar Festival returns this September 10th – 19th for its 17th iteration, as organisers attempt to once again electrify the streets and crash the internet of the coastal town with the sweet sound of those six strings. “We can’t cram like sardines into every nook and cranny of Clonakilty as in previous festivals, so we’ve expanded the length of the event by three days. This way we can continue to honour the depth and diversity of approaches to guitar playing that has been the bedrock of CIGF since our first event back in 2005.” – Festival co-organiser Ray Blackwell For 10 days, the festival promises to do what they always do: celebrate the virtuosos, the three-chord heroes, the freak-out noiseniks and the bedroom noodlers. Joined by some of Ireland's most exciting and innovative independent musicians, the festival will stage outdoor performances, virtual premieres and hybrid gigs (livestreamed with audience) The programme welcomes John Spillane, John Francis Flynn, Windings, Dani Larkin, Clare Sands, Pretty Happy, Kyle Macaulay & Nicole Ní Dhubhshláine, Red Sun Alert and many, many more; and virtual premieres of work from Eve Clague, Joshua Burnside & Laura Quirke, Lonely and the Moose, Myles O’Reilly. Explore the full programme at www.clonguitarfest.com