Wrap up Fleadh 2010 on a high note

All the hard work will have been done and dusted by the time the dedicated trad musicians and their friends take to the stage at Cavan's Town Hall Fleadh Club for a big wrap-up show at 8pm on Monday, August 23. Sponsored by Northern Sound and the Farnham Arms Hotel, the celebration concert will also be recorded on DVD, as a special Fleadh 2010 memento. The performers will all have been working steadily throughout the previous week and weekend to ensure the All-Ireland Fleadh will be as successful and memorable as any before, but come Monday night, it's time for them to let their hair (or beards in some cases!) down and party and play away to their hearts' content as the biggest festival ever to hit the county town ends on a high note! Leading this Breffni Brigade - it could go without saying - will be Martin Donohoe, who'll be battle-worn but full of fleadh-fuelled banter, not to mention tunes to beat the band. Joining Martin will be Seán Ó Sé of An Poc ar Buile fame - sure we'll make the Corkonian an honorary true blue Breffni for the night - as well as stalwarts like Antóin Mac Gabhann and his fiddle, Martin Gaffney with the flute, piano and piano accordion man Philip Clarke, lilting legend Seamus Fay and singer Aoife Murray - they never forget their instruments! - banjo maestro Darren Maloney, Mickey McDonnell on bouzouki, Fintan McManus with his guitar - he's nearly Cavan now anyway - dancing queen Clare McDermott, and a host of others, including talented younger folk like the Donohoe whizz kids Kavan and Savannah, and many more surprise guests. And as the Cavan accordion king leads this host of fleadh friends to the old stage, those well-trodden boards should by then be reverberating with traditional riffs, having absorbed more high-decibel Irish music in one weekend than they probably did in their 100-year history. But it's fitting that, as the Fleadh Club venue where bands like Old De Dannan, At First Light and Lúnasa will have rattled the roof over the previous three nights, the Town Hall should wind things down with a slightly more easy-going, though lively and light-hearted night's music, song and craic. For those who've survived the fleadh through to Monday (and there's always a good few who do), this finishing-up fling at the Fleadh Club venue sounds like a great way to top it all off, especially for the hard-pressed locals. And with a promotional DVD of the whole hooley being recorded for transmission in the USA - as well as to send an early signal for Fleadh 2011 in Cavan - why miss it when you could be part of the history? Tickets will on the door or book early at MultiSound, Cavan 049-4361312; adults €15, kids and OAPs concessions €10; family ticket (two adults and two children) €30, only from 086-8173153.