Launch party for 13th Westport festival, 11 May 2019

Thanks to the organising committee (above) of the Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival in Westport, Co. Mayo, for this news:

Since the completion of the 2018 Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival, the organising committee have been working to produce the 13th edition of the festival, which will take place in Westport during the weekend of 7-9 June. On Saturday 11 May at 9.30 p.m. at McGing's pub, High St., Westport, the team will celebrate the launch of the festival.

It has became a tradition that about a month before the festival weekend, we all gather in McGing's to officially launch the festival and reveal the full lineup and poster design. On the night there will be a number of short speeches and a quick rundown of the festival programme of events by the festival's producer - Uri Kohen.

The Vanguards: (l-r) Laura Nailor, Pete Thomas, 

Chris Lord, Jack Baker, Alex Clarke

The music for the event will be provided by a five-piece bluegrass band from London - The Vanguards. The band were part of the headline acts of the 2017 festival and we are delighted to welcome them back to Westport.

The launch event will be followed with a month of media promotion all around the world.

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The Vanguards are a five-piece traditional bluegrass band based in London. They take their musical inspiration from the originators of bluegrass music. Instrumentally, they seek to create a sound which blends the mandolin style of Bill Monroe, the banjo style of Ralph Stanley, and the old-time style of fiddling which typified early bluegrass recordings and which continues to influence the sound of traditional bluegrass bands into the present day.