Ireland’s iconic music festival Open Voices returns to Cardigan in November

Other Voices, Ireland’s internationally acclaimed music festival and live music television programme, is returning to Cardigan from November 3-5.

The festival will present another inspirational programme of live music and compelling dialogue that champions Ireland and Wales’ longstanding cultural and musical ties both live and online.

It’s been three years since the first edition of Other Voices Cardigan took place. Last year saw the event move online to a digital platform, but the organisers are delighted that audiences and artists can finally come together again in person to celebrate the close relationship between Wales and Ireland. 

This years’ audiences can look forward to three days and nights of fantastic music from emerging and established musicians from Wales, Ireland and beyond.

A Music Trail will take place in multiple venues around Cardigan, with over 80 events across three days in intimate and atmospheric spaces around the town, hosted by Huw Stephens and presented in partnership with Mwldan, an independent arts centre and cinema based in Cardigan, and Triongl.

Headline sessions in St Mary’s Church will be simultaneously screened to Mwldan and live-streamed worldwide on the night online via Other Voices’ YouTube and other social channels. Exclusive content from the weekend will be captured for later broadcast on S4C and RTÉ.

The festival will see the return of the Clebran sessions – a curated series of carefully prepared talks with artists, journalists, creatives and politicians sparking enriching, lively conversations about how they perceive our world, language, culture and future. These events will take place in the daytime across the three days.

Now in its 20th year, Other Voices is a glorious celebration of music in all its diversity. From its beginnings as an intimate musical gathering in a tiny church in Dingle, Ireland’s iconic festival has hosted a series of global events in Austin, London, Belfast, Berlin, Derry, New York, with a further 35 million people experiencing the festival online.

Other Voices digital ‘Courage’ series gained more than 9.6 million views in 2020, bringing live music safely back into people’s lives with performances from Lisa Hannigan, Fontaines D.C. and more.

In 2019, the tiny West Wales town of Cardigan joined the Other Voices family, uniting with Dingle, two Celtic communities who live, work and play on the wild westerly coasts of their respective countries.

In 2021, Other Voices Cardigan saw a digital edition take place on the BBC Platform as part of Gŵyl 2021.

Wristband registration is now open via mwldan.co.uk or othervoices.ie . Wristband enables audience members entry to the festival across three days, including the Music Trail, Clebran events and inclusion into the draw to win much sought after admission golden tickets to the live performances at St Mary’s Church and other prizes. Early bird wristbands cost just £20, increasing to £25 on October 13.

An Open Call is now open for musicians interested in taking part in the Music Trail. Submissions can be made via www.othervoice.ie before the closing date of  September 23

Full details of the festival will be released in the coming weeks. Follow the festival and sign up now for more information: @OtherVoiceslive othervoices.ie

@TheatrMwldan  mwldan.co.uk

Other Voices Cardiga, staged with the support and investment of Welsh Government and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, is produced by South Wind Blows in partnership with Mwldan and Triongl. The event will be filmed by Triongl for later broadcast on S4C and RTÉ.

Philip King, founder of Other Voices, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Other Voices back to beautiful Cardigan this November and to see the seeds of partnership sown in 2019 deepen and strengthen.

“This event will build on the conversation we began with our partners at Mwldan and Triongl back in 2016. The joint statement by the Irish and Welsh Governments commits to the continuation and strengthening of this creative engagement and will build a powerful cultural bridge between Ireland and Wales over the next four years (2022-2025).

“The music will be wonderful, celebrating, as it will, some of the most remarkable emerging voices in Ireland and Wales in the beautiful setting of Saint Mary’s Church.”

Dilwyn Davies, chief executive of Mwldan, said: “It’s a great honour for Cardigan to be the Other Voices location in Wales. It reinforces the sense of Cardigan’s resurgence as a place where art, culture, creativity and environment form the very foundations of our community.

“We are looking forward to welcoming our friends from Ireland, and to three days of truly magnificent music.”