OUR STORY

A vision that became a movement

Belfast TradFest is a flagship celebration of traditional music, song and dance — an ambitious idea that grew into a world-class festival transforming the cultural life of Belfast. But before it became a globally recognised event drawing tens of thousands each year, TradFest began with a simple yet powerful vision.

In September 2014, Ray Morgan, Chairperson of the Glengormley School of Traditional Music, and traditional musician and producer Dónal O’Connor came together with a shared ambition: to create a major Traditional Music Summer School in Belfast - a city rich in musical heritage but without an event to match the established summer schools across Ireland. Recognising this gap and the potential it held, Ray and Dónal began developing the foundations of what would become a new and transformative chapter in Belfast’s cultural life.

Throughout 2015 and early 2016, they engaged in extensive consultation with organisations, community groups, and cultural stakeholders across the city. The idea quickly gained momentum, and by April 2016 they had formally established a board of trustees, creating the Belfast Summer School of Traditional Music — a not-for-profit charity founded to address the significant lack of traditional music provision in Northern Ireland.

In December 2016, Patricia Murray joined the organisation, bringing essential experience in large scale event management, arts administration, governance and organisational development. Her arrival strengthened the charity’s strategic framework and operational capacity, helping to transform an emerging community initiative into a sustainable and ambitious cultural organisation. Patricia’s leadership played a key role in shaping the early delivery model and preparing the foundation for future expansion.

A pioneering feature of the project from the beginning was its inclusivity. For the first time, Highland pipers and pipe band drummers - musicians who often travelled to Scotland or the Republic of Ireland to compete - were welcomed into a traditional Irish music summer school. This cross-traditions ethos became a defining characteristic of the organisation.

The first Summer School was delivered in partnership with Ulster University in 2017, and in 2019, the organisation expanded into a full festival. 

Belfast TradFest was born.