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Manchester Tradfest sets a world record 
This year’s Manchester Irish Festival Tradfest in Levenshulme set
a brand new world record for the largest Irish music session ever held
in a pub when 116 musicians packed themselves into Union Irish Pub on
Stockport Road in Levenshulme village.
The historic event took place on Wednesday, March 12 and was broadcast
by the award-winning Full Irish radio show team from ALL FM on 96.9fm
and it was also broadcast live on the internet to a worldwide audience.
The session was led by the award-winning Irish musician Grace Kelly who
runs a weekly Irish session at the pub every Wednesday night.
She said: “It was great to see so many Irish musicians packed into
one pub. I think we could have run 10 sessions with the amount of support
we had on the night.
“I do not know where we are going to stage next year’s event
— the landlord might have to knock a few walls down to accommodate
them all.”
Lawrence Hennigan from the Levenshulme Pub Company who owns the bar said:
“The idea for the event came about after we filmed the session during
last year’s Manchester Irish Festival and received over 7,000 hits
on Youtube.
“It can be viewed on the festival website www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk.
“Because of the popularity of the film and our desire to promote
traditional Irish music we thought it would be a good idea to set up a
record attempt.
“It was a fantastic night with a great atmosphere.”
The event was part of a 10-day Tradfest being held in the village which
featured over 100 traditional and contemporary Irish musicians, singers
and dancers. |
