Meet the Louth man organising Belfast’s TradFest – ‘We are expecting 25,000 visitors’
Photograph by Claire Loughran
By Margaret Roddy
This article appeared in the The Irish Independent July 18, 2025 at 13:00 BST.
Louth native Donal O’Connor, the artistic director of Belfast TradFest, comes from traditional music royalty. His father is the renowned fiddle player Gerry from Ravensdale, his mother was the late traditional singer Eithne Ni hUllachain and his grandmother Rose O’Connor taught generations of Louth children to play the fiddle.
He is conscious of how privileged he was to grow up in a family steeped in traditional music and that’s one of the reasons he’s so proud of the summer school which forms an essential part of Belfast TradFest.
TradFest is now the biggest traditional music event in Northern Ireland, and alongside over 450 concerts, gigs and performances taking place in 30 venues throughout Belfast from July 27 to August 3, is the summer school which attracts students, not just from across Ireland but also overseas.
“Over the past seven years, Belfast TradFest has grown from a bold idea into a major celebration of traditional music, song, and dance that belongs to all of us— and to this brilliant city,” says Donal.
“This year, we hope to attract a total audience of over 25,000 to take part in our extensive programme,” he says.
Belfast TradFest attracts 800 students from 33 countries
He explains that the idea came from the realisation that there was no major traditional summer schools for traditional Irish musicians in Northern Ireland.
"There was nothing like the summer schools in the South, nothing like the Willie Clancy Summer School and our young musicians were missing out on the chance to bring their music to the next level. I was very lucky to grow up in a musical family.”
He is looking forward to seeing 800 students attending the beautiful new Ulster University building in the Cathedral Quarter in the heart of the city, noting that 25pc of the students are international students from 33 different countries.
Alongside the 105 sessions taking place in 20 of the best pubs in Belfast, there’s a programme of concerts featuring legendary performers such as Matt Molloy, Cathy Jordan, and Kevin Burke.
The festival’s opening concert will set the tone for a week of spectacular performances with a sensational double bill: trad legends Dervish alongside the ground-breaking ensemble NOTIFY, joined by the Irish Concertina Orchestra, Cormac McCarthy, and the MGCE Concert Orchestra—featuring over 80 musicians onstage at Belfast’s iconic Ulster Hall on Sunday July 27.
The ward-winning quintet Goitse featuring Dundalk musician Aine McGeeney takes to the stage of the iconic Empire Music Hall on Wednesday July 30.
Other highlights include the global phenomenon Iarla Ó Lionáird and virtuosic instrumentalist Tim Edey taking to the stage of the Empire Music Hall on Thursday July 31. The following night, at Mandela Hall, Matt Molloy, John Carty, and Brian McGrath join forces for a standout TradFest concert, along with Ríoghnach Connolly and The Breath.
There’s a strong Louth connection in the collaborative concert on Saturday August 2 featuring Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley, Zoë Conway, and John McIntyre, collectively known as Allt, with the Ulster Orchestra in Mandela Hall. All four have composed new Gaelic music specifically for this project, showcasing the deep historical bonds between Gaelic Scotland and Ireland.
Gerry O’Connor will also be doing a talk on the Donnellan collection and a workshop on bow re-hairing during the week.
Belfast traditional music festival bridges post-conflict divides through culture
"We are expecting 25,000 visitors to TradFest, with 450 events in 30 venues over the eight days,” says Donal.
"A large part of our work is bringing people together through traditional music in the post-conflict divided society. We have managed to bring together people from the world of piping and drumming with those from fiddle and flutes.”
He says that their work has been recognised internationally and has paved the way for the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann coming to Belfast for the first time in 2026.
Donal is pleased to be playing a part in fostering the city’s thriving traditional music scene.
He has lived there since studying at Queen’s University Belfast in 1996 and runs his own recording studio Redbox, working with various musicians.
He has also won awards for his work as a television producer but he says that has had to take a back seat due to his involvement with TradFest.
"I’m also involved in organising the St Patrick’s Day music festival for Belfast City Council and the music for the Belfast Maritime Festival in September with the Hothouse Flowers, Sharon Shannon, Mary Coughlan, Bronagh Gallagher and Joshua Burnside.”
An accomplished fiddle player, he is still gigging and has just returned from Greece where he performed with Paul Brady.
"I’m director of the Iris Wings Festival in Paxos and it was a total dream and honour to get to play with one of my musical idols, Paul Brady.”
He is also looking forward to playing in Dundalk in the autumn, along with cellist Niall Martin and singer mary Dillon from Déanta.
In the meantime, he’s hoping to welcome Dundalk visitors to TradFest.