Friel Sisters, John Spillane and Niamh Parsons Announced for New Dublin Folk Festival

Rising Tides, a new two-day trad and folk festival, will take place in Liberty Hall, Dublin on September 8-9.

The festival is organised by FairPlé, a recently established coalition of musicians. Their aim is to raise awareness about gender balance in the production, performance, promotion and development of Irish traditional music.

“There are loads of fantastic women musicians out there, but it seems to us that they have not been enjoying the same opportunities. This is a chance to open the floor to our community and share ideas, engage in the issues at hand, and move towards positive change," says FairPlé Chair and founder member, Karen Casey in a statement.

The event will begin with a series of panel discussions on September 8 addressing the under-representation of female musicians in Irish Music. Topics to be addressed include career advice for emerging artists; insights about managing the business aspects while holding down a career on the road; sexual harassment issues, and the challenges faced by older women in Irish music.

The Festival will culminate with a gala concert featuring a line-up of The Friel Sisters, John Spillane, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Síle Denvir, Barry Kerr & Dónal Lunny, ATLAS, Niamh Parsons, Graham Dunne, Emma Langford, Úna Monaghan, Jane Walls and Séan McKeon.