Rostrevor For eight days and seven nights in late July, Rostrevor, a scenic village in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains overlooking Carlingford Lough on Northern Ireland’s County Down Coast, was home to the 21st Annual Fiddler’s Green International Festival.  A celebration of music, arts and culture, the festival included performances by an array of local and international performers, music workshops. outdoor ceilis, nightly music sessions, art exhibitions, a family sports day, a literary pub crawl and more.

Upcoming editions of “Folk Club,” a weekly program on BBC Radio Ulster hosted by Colum Sands, will feature recorded performances from the festival.  These include singer Cara Dillon and her band (August 11), former DeDanann fiddler Frankie Gavin and Hibernian Rhapsody (August 18), and Belfast-born singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy (August 25).  Streaming on the Web at www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radioulster/folk_club, each of the shows will be archived for seven days following the initial broadcast and can be accessed using the BBC Radio Player.  Also archived is a performance by The Sands Family, featuring Colum’s brother Tommy, from last year’s festival.

On “Folk Club,” Colum Sands customarily shares a blend of traditional and contemporary folk music and song with his listeners — interspersing news of new releases and upcoming gigs in Northern Ireland with album tracks and excerpts from concert performances, as well as occasional short interviews with and performances by in-studio guests. 

Other Celtic music radio programs of note on the BBC include “Celtic Heartbeat,” a two and one-half hour show hosted by Frank Hennessey that airs Saturday evenings on BBC Radio Wales and features traditional and contemporary folk and acoustic music; “Reel Blend,” hosted by Robbie Shepherd Sundays on BBC Radio Scotland, and “Celtic Fringe,” James McKeefry’s two-hour program that airs Wednesdays on BBC Radio Leicester.  Singer-songwriter Johnny Coppin hosts “Folk Roots,” a Sunday afternoon program on BBC Radio Gloucestershire that features acoustic, Celtic and traditional music.  These programs, along with most of the BBC’s folk and country offerings, can be accessed by keying in www.bbc.co.uk/music/folkcountry/ on your web browser.