The Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival is back this weekend in the Mayo town, with events getting underway this afternoon.
Seen as the curtain raising event to the summer tourism season in Westport, pub sessions, concerts and workshops are just some of the events on offer across the weekend.
In the 17th year of the festival, a new project has commenced whereby organisers have partnered with the Irish World Academy for Musioc and Dance at the University of Limerick, East Tennessee State University and Middle Tennessee State University, with representation from all three institutions at various events this year.
This flagship project is part of the committee’s plans to develop exchange programmes for the coming years.
Artists such as The Kody Norris Show, Fog Holler and Bill and the Belles (all from the United States), Lunch Special (UK), The Rustic Robots (Czech Republic) all travel overseas for the event while Irish based acts include Niamh Dunne, The Rockytop String Band and Tim Rogers among others.
For more information on the festival you can head over to http://www.westportfolkbluegrass.com/