- artist:various
- featured artist:Carlos Núnez, Solas, Jim Hayes, Ian Smith & Steve Campbell
- release year:2004
- style(s):Folk, Irish
- country:Ireland
- formats:CD (Compact Disc)
- record posted by:Magnetic Music
- label:Magnetic Music
- publisher:Magnetic Music
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The Irish Folk Festival - Celtic Legends
It is precisely thirty years ago that the IFF toured for the first time and caused a musical earthquake that rattled the music scene on the Continent, measuring over the musical Richter scale, comparable only to the Cuban Son or Jamaican Reggae boom. Until the Irish Folk Festival happened festivals were usually once off affairs. The Irish Folk Festival combined the concept of a festival with a tour. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the IFF is to evaluate how the Festival rode the crest of the gigantic wave of the old days, navigating through the difficult times and managing to conserve a healthy equilibrium. Irish folk is nowadays not a transient fashion but an established music style with an audience of connoisseurs who prefer to appreciate this music in concert halls rather than in clichéd plastic ´Irish pubs´.
A big anniversary is always an opportunity to reflect on the past and also to look into the future. Let’s go! Throughout the years, the IFF has been visited by over one million fans and has contributed substantially to the perception of the ´Emerald Isle´ abroad. The IFF has wagered on a mixture of stars and newcomers, generating respect and indeed many great surprises. The festival has been on occasion, the cradle of some great careers. The line up reads like a ´Who’s Who´ of Irish Folk: Clannad, De Dannan, Fureys, Cherish the Ladies, Micho Russell, Liam O´Flynn, Karan Casey, Joe Burke, Paddy Keenan, Altan, etc. Their music is captured for eternity on the festival CDs produced yearly. The booklets of those CDs provide extensive information about the tour artists and years later, are a reliable reference about Ireland and Irish culture.
Some of the above mentioned artists are unfortunately no longer with us but they are not forgotten. It is in their memory that this anniversary tour is called 'Celtic Legends'. That the festival is alive, innovative, steeped in the tradition whilst at the same time looking to the future, can be judged on the superlative line up. The artists of today featuring on this compilation also fully earn the tour motto 'Celtic Legends'. Having bands and artists of this format around I’m positive that the Irish Folk Festival has a bright future ahead. One day we will have the pleasure of celebrating the 40th or even the 50th anniversary together.