Gearing up to paint Cavan green

With icy conditions forecast there's talk of a whiter shade of green this year, but pageants and parades are set for take-off and the Nyah Festival is already under way ensuring that craic, ceol and culture will put colour in Cavan for St Patrick's Day, next Thursday. Some 12 parades are set to take place around County Cavan. The county town's parade will even wriggle its way around the world, being streamed live on the internet. The Ballinagh parade will feature Norwegian accordion player, Bjorn Eldevick, and seven others from Bergen. Other parades also have an impressive line-up of marching and samba bands, floats and other sound-and-vision spectacles. The sound of trad' music is also coming our way, with the Nyah Festival already warming up. The annual festival is organised by Martin Donohoe of Cavan Town Comhaltas, which is set to bring All-Ireland Fleadh 2011 to the county in August. A perfect chance to ensure you're in tune for the fleadh, the Nyah Festival will see hundreds of trad' and folk musicians and artists descend on the Breffni territory to take part in a packed programme of events, from major concerts to intimate pub sessions, with a host of extras including music and song workshops, the Jig Of Life awards, and book and CD launches. A concert in Lavey Community Centre on Friday, March 18, promises to be among the highlights of the festival. Martin Donohoe will be MC, and John Wynne, Gary Lynch, winners of Fleadh Cheoil Na hÉireann and Ulster Fleadh 2010, will be among special guests. Seamus Tierney, Orla Finnegan, Gareth Tierney, Deirdre O'Reilly, Niamh Geoghegan, Kavan Donohoe, Rebecca Tully, Aoife Murray, Thomas Hughes, Aine McDermott and Savannah Donohoe, Aoife and Katie Flynn, Emer O'Reilly, Seamus Fay, The Lavey Set Dancers, Pat Tierney, Fintan McManus, Peter Kelly, Paddy Galligan, Felix McQuaid, Cavan Town Set Dancers and Cavan Town CCE branch youth group Polka Band will all perform. The Nyah Arts Festival Programme 2011 is subsidised by the Cavan County Council Arts Office, McQuaids Opticians, Comhaltas, Wrangler, Donal Keogan, Imperial Lounge, Cavan County Museum, Farnham Arms Hotel, Sean Tarpey, Shannonside Northern Sound Radio and Fáilte Ireland. For Nyah programme, contact Martin at 086-2342270.