Dunmore East prepares for 26th Bluegrass Festival, 26-29 Aug. 2021

The BIB wrote yesterday: 'At present, [...] no established bluegrass and/or old-time events in this island are confidently advertising for 2021', and today we gladly eat our words. Thanks to Mick Daly, organiser of the Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival, Co. Waterford, for the good news that he and his team are making flexible preparations for next year's event. Mick writes:

The dates for the 26th Dunmore East Bluegrass Festival are 26/27/28/29 August 2021. The first button for 2021 was pressed today; the format will be adjusted to whatever guidelines are in place on the dates.

This year five different plans were put in place as the year progressed, but sadly this was down to fifteen people by the end of August; we had planned to run it with the 200-people limit and had approval from the authorities. We had to cancel a week out. It may be pods or drive-in, in fact whatever it takes. Only stipulation is that it breaks even, and all acts receive a fee. It will not be a virtual event. There will be an admission fee.

UPDATE: The 2021 Festival is now scheduled as a one-day ticketed event on Sat. 28 Aug. For more details, see the BIB for 7 Aug. and 16 Aug. 2021.