The Soma Festival ( sa, सोम, or ''sóma'', meaning ''drink of the Gods'', see
Soma (drink)
In the Vedic tradition, ''sóma'' (Devanagari: सोम) is a ritual drink of importance among the early Vedic Indo-Aryans. The Rigveda mentions it, particularly in the Soma Mandala. Gita mentions the drink in Chapter 9. It is equivalent to t ...
; ) is an annual music, arts, and cultural festival. The festival includes concerts, musical performances, well-being activities, art exhibitions and stalls, language events, celebrations of food and drink, music workshops, and pub sessions. The festival began in 2013 and takes place in
Castlewellan
Castlewellan () is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve C ...
,
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
in Northern Ireland. The festival is directed by
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
-born singer Tíona McSherry and run by a team of volunteers. The Festival Club brings together musicians and festival visitors on a nightly basis.
History
2013–2015
The festival was established in 2013 with headline performances from The Olllam,
Niamh Parsons
Niamh Parsons (born in Dublin, Ireland) is a singer of contemporary and traditional Irish music
Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
I ...
and the John McSherry Band. Artists Lorcan Vallely and Barry Kerr exhibited at the festival. Glór Uachtar Tíre's Scoil Samhraidh Shéamuis Uí Néill, an annual Irish language weekend became part of the Soma programme and has been included on an annual basis since. In 2014 the festival received support from
Down District Council
Down District Council was a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland. It merged with Newry and Mourne District Council in April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne and Down District Cou ...
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
enabling them to expand their programme. The festival was headlined by
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
singer
Cara Dillon
Cara Elizabeth Dillon (born 21 July 1975, in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish folk singer. In 1995, she joined the folk supergroup Equation and signed a record deal with Warners Music Group. After leaving t ...
, The Olllam and Balkan Alien Sound.
In 2015, the festival was headlined by singer-songwriter
Duke Special
Duke Special (born Peter Wilson; 4 January 1971) is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he was previously known for his distinctiv ...
. Supported by the newly created
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (Irish: ''Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin'') is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Down District Council and Newry and Mourne District ...
supercouncil, the festival expanded greatly. Performers included
Beoga
Beoga (Irish language, Irish word for ''vivid'' or ''lively'') are an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band. They were formed in County Kerry in 2002 at the All-Ireland Fleadh although the original four members of the band hail from County Antr ...
, Moxie,
Karen Matheson
Karen Matheson OBE (born 11 February 1963) is a Scottish folk singer who frequently sings in Gaelic. She is the lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Héritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lea ...
,
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh
Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh (born 1978) is a musician and singer from County Kerry, Ireland. Until 2016, she was the lead singer for the traditional music group Danú, and from that year on she has been half of the electronica duo Aeons.
Biography ...
,
Pauline Scanlon
Pauline Scanlon (born in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland) is a singer of contemporary and traditional Irish music.
Dingle is in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht, which is an area where the population's first language is Irish. Scanlon has been singin ...
,
John Spillane
John Spillane (born 1961) is a singer-songwriter from Cork, Ireland.
Background
Spillane grew up in the Cork suburb of Wilton, in a family of five boys. He was educated in Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown. Raised by his mother, she ...
, John McSherry and
Dónal O'Connor
Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He is a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light.
Early life
O'Connor was born into ...
and an Irish language music and cabaret hosted by
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí
Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí is an Irish broadcaster who broadcasts mainly through Irish. He is known particularly for his popular magazine programme ''Rónán Beo'' on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta. He was born on 6 May 1970 in Cork, but was brought ...
Colin Harper
Colin Harper (born 1968, in Belfast) is an Irish non-fiction author and composer.
Background
Harper was born in Belfast and graduated in Modern History 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast, later acquiring a postgraduate diploma in Information ...
launched their book, ''Wheels of the World: 300 Years of Uilleann Pipers'' and piper
Paddy Keenan
Paddy Keenan (born 30 January 1950) is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborati ...
and singer Mary Dillon were among musicians giving workshops.
2016–present
In 2016 the festival was awarded sponsorship from
Tourism Northern Ireland
Tourism Northern Ireland, also known as Tourism NI, is a non-departmental public body of the Department for the Economy. Its primary objective is to promote Northern Ireland as a tourist destination to domestic tourists, from within Northern Irela ...
. In that year, the festival featured performances from
Lisa Hannigan
Lisa Margaret Hannigan (born 12 February 1981) is an Irish musician, singer, composer, and voice actress. She began her musical career as a member of Damien Rice's band. Since beginning her solo career in 2007 she has released three albums: ''Se ...
,
Eddi Reader
Sadenia "Eddi" Reader MBE (born 29 August 1959) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, known for her work as frontwoman of Fairground Attraction and for an enduring solo career. She is the recipient of three BRIT Awards. In 2003, she showcased the wo ...
,
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...
Declan O'Rourke
Declan O'Rourke (born April 26, 1976) is a singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland.
Career
Early career to 2010
At the age of 13, when living in Australia with his family, O'Rourke was given his first guitar by a priest in Kyabram who recogn ...
and Breaking Trad.
To celebrate NI Year of Food and Drink 2016, the Soma Festival initiated the now-annual ''Soma Taste Experience'', bringing together artisan food and
craft beer
Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...
producers from County Down and around Ireland. ''Soma Body & Soul'' became another annual festival feature with well-being professionals offering free and paid activities over two days. The ''Soma Craft Fair''
market square
The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.
The 2017 festival took place from 12 to 16 July of that year.