Van Morrison to headline Liverpool’s new Irish Festival, The Feis

Featuring some of the biggest names in Irish music, both contemporary and traditional, The Feis Liverpool will be the biggest celebration of Irish culture the city has seen.

Taking place on Liverpool’s World Heritage Waterfront on Saturday 7^th July Van Morrison will headline the festival. Also on the line-up are Chieftains, Imelda May, The Hothouse Flowers, Foy Vance, The Coronas, Aslan, Finbar Furey, Paul Brady, Hudson Taylor, The Stunning, Nathan Carter, Damien Dempsey, Dublin Legends (The Dubliners), Sharon Shannon, Mary Coughlan, Jack L & Mundy.

The Feis forms part of the Liverpool 2018 events programme which marks the tenth anniversary of European Capital of Culture, and will celebrate Liverpool’s unique Irish heritage. Often referred to as the ‘real capital of Ireland’ and ‘Dublin’s backyard’, over 75% of Liverpool’s population is of Irish descent.

The Feis is being organised by music promoter Vince Power, the founder of the famous Mean Fiddler who was behind festivals such as Glastonbury, Leeds/ Reading, Tribal Gathering, Homelands, the Hop Farm; as well as the world famous Fleadh Festival. Power’s Fleadh/Feis festivals ran for over fifteen years in London, Glasgow, New York, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco with the most recent by Bob Dylan.

Vince Power says, “I’m proud and delighted to bring The Feis to Liverpool, a great city with such strong ties to Ireland. I have always wanted to do an Irish music festival here. The Pier Head is the perfect location because of its powerful and emotional significance. We have a fantastic line-up and this event will bring together the finest, most celebrated Irish musicians in a marvelous festival atmosphere. would like to add my sincere thanks to Liverpool City Council and Mayor Joe Anderson, who saw the strength of the idea immediately and have been so supportive. This is the biggest line-up of Irish artistes Liverpool has ever seen.”

Liverpool was named UNESCO City of Music in 2015 and has recently announced an exciting programme of events to mark the tenth anniversary of its appointment as European Capital of Culture. The Feis Liverpool will add to the existing celebration of Irish culture that is already well served by The Liverpool Irish Festival, the Irish Centre & Comhaltas.

Assistant Mayor and Cabinet Member for culture, tourism and events, Councillor Wendy Simon, said: ‘The Feis brings together two of this city’s greatest passions – music and Ireland. This is a wonderful package – an exciting and authentic line-up in the stunning surroundings of our World heritage waterfront – makes this the perfect addition to our festival calendar.”