Picker’s paradise returns for its 18th year!

Thanks to Karen Cheevers of B2B Communications for up-to-the-minute news on this year's Guinness International Bluegrass Festival at Dunmore East, Co. Waterford:

Calling all bluegrass pickers!

If banjo-pickin', foot-tappin', mandolin-pluckin', barnstormin', step-dancin', fiddle-playin', double-bass-clawin' sessions are your thing, then Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, is the only place to be from August 23rd to August 26th.

Now in its eighteenth year, the Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival takes place in the picturesque fishing village over four days, in five venues, with dozens of national and international bluegrass and roots acts lining up!

Jack Grace (aka The Martini Cowboy) and his band will headline an enviable lineup of bluegrass artists for Ireland’s only free bluegrass music festival, and fans of bluegrass, country, rhythm, roots, new grass, and blues are expected to descend on the picturesque fishing village to enjoy free music events played throughout the village’s pubs and hotels.

The local hostelries - the Strand Inn, the Haven Hotel, the Spinnaker, Powers Bar, and Azzurro - will play host to dozens of free gigs throughout the weekend with local, national, and international bluegrass names playing a variety of traditional and contemporary bluegrass music.

So if you can pick, pluck, or fiddle, come on down to Ireland’s largest free bluegrass festival for bluegrass at its best!

The 18th Guinness International Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival in Co. Waterford kicks off at 7.00 p.m. on Thursday 23 August at the Spinnaker Bar and Restaurant, and will feature bluegrass and blues bands, playing free gigs in the village's pubs, restaurants, and hotels. More information is here.

This year’s lineup includes:

The Jack Grace Band (see photo above)
Mikey & the Scallywags
Jeff & Vida
Mons Wheeler Band
Land’s End
Gypsy Rebel Rabble
Desert Aces
Knotty Pine String Band

BIB editor's note: Some of the links given here may be found to work better than the corresponding links on the Festival website.