Author page

Embassy of Ireland TRADFEST Belgium updates
Update on upcoming events – TRADFEST Belgium, 10 – 14 June 2015

Headline act – KILA, 11 June 2015 at 19.15
Tickets for KILA at BOZAR cost €15 and can be obtained from the BOZAR website at:
http://www.bozar.be/en/activities/99784-kila-irish-traditional-world-music-group
Also by phone 02 507 82 00, or at Bozar box office: rue Ravenstein 23

TRADFEST Belgium 2015 Official Opening, 10 June 2015 at 20.00
The first music session of TRADFEST will take place at The Funky Monkey pub (Rue Archimède 65, 1000 Brussels)

TRADFEST Classes
The TRADFEST will include an Irish language class (to be held at the Embassy of Ireland, 180 Chaussée d’Etterbeek, 1040 Brussels), a traditional Irish Dance Class and a traditional Music Lesson (to be held at the Permanent Representation of Ireland to EU, Rue Froissart 50, 1040 Bruxelles)
Places in the classes are limited and prior registration is required BEFORE 11 June.

All classes begin at 14h00 on Saturday 13th June.

The Irish language class registration can be done by clicking here and supplying details.

The Dance class registration can be done by clicking here and supplying details.

The Music lesson registration can be done by clicking here and supplying details.

Lecture by Fintan Vallely on “The glorious rise in status of Traditional music in Ireland”, on Saturday, 13 June at 18h00 h
You are cordially invited to a lecture illustrated with music by renowned expert Dr. Fintan Vallely. Fintan will be joined by musician Gerry O’Connor.
Using spoken words, images and performed music, Fintan Vallely will illustrate the rise of the status of Irish Traditional music from an abandoned art form in the 1950s to being a supreme representative national icon by the 2000s. He looks at media, post-war Pop and Rock parallels, the ballads boom, the influence of Seán Ó Riada, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the fleadh cheoil, teaching and learning, the summer schools, recording, the music’s entry to higher education and professionalism.
Prior registration is necessary and can be done so by following the link here

To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the Bruges City Council have decided that the Burg Square in Bruges, one of Belgium’s two Medieval squares, will be lit in green for the first time ever. This historic greening is part of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening Initiative, in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland to the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Burg Square was already inhabited in the 2nd century AD, and in the 9th century it became the home of the Count of Flanders. Bruges and the surrounding territory were governed from the Palace of the Liberty of Bruges from the Late Middle Ages until 1795. For almost the next 200 years the buildings were occupied by law courts. To the left of the 14th-century city hall you will find the old Court of Justice, a rare example of Renaissance architecture in Bruges, and to the right you will find the Basilica of the Holy Blood, where the relic of the Holy Blood is kept.

Members of the public are welcome on Monday 16th March 2015 as from 20h00 (please note – the lights go on the day before St. Patrick’s day!) when the Burg will be greened in the presence of Ireland’s Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection Mr. Dara Murphy T.D., the Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of Belgium, Éamonn Mac Aodha and Tourism Ireland representatives. The Burg will also be lit in green on the evening of St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday 17th March 2015.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Follow the Embassy of Ireland Twitter for information and updates on events @IrishEmbBelgium

On the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day, Brussels City Council has once again decided that the magnificent Brussels Grand Place will be lit in green as part of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening Initiative, in partnership with the Embassy of Ireland to the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Brussels Grand Place will join iconic landmarks taking part in the Global Greening. The Colosseum in Rome, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica in the fabled district of Montmartre overlooking Paris and the Grand Ole Opry (the show that made country music famous!) in Nashville will go green for the first time ever for St Patrick’s Day this year, as part of the organisation’s sixth annual Global Greening initiative.

Tourism Ireland’s annual Global Greening, which sees a host of major landmarks and iconic sites around the world illuminated in green for St Patrick’s Day, has grown from strength to strength, with a number of new landmarks signing up to take part in 2015, including the Burg in Bruges.

The new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including Niagara Falls (on both the US and Canadian sides), the London Eye, the Allianz Arena in Munich, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Cibeles Fountain and Palace in Madrid and one of last year’s newcomers, the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® in Paris.

Members of the public are welcome to join the media to see the moment the Grand Place will be greened on Tuesday 17th March 2015 at 20h45 in the presence of Minister for European Affairs and Data Protection Mr. Dara Murphy T.D., Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of Belgium Éamonn Mac Aodha and Tourism Ireland representatives.