Dalriada_Festival_2013_crowd_shot_2013-07-28_00-16

The Dalriada Festival (now known as Dalfest) is an annual cultural and heritage

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

of sport, music and foods that takes place in the village of

Glenarm Glenarm () is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the North Channel coast north of the town of Larne and the village of Ballygalley, and south of the village of Carnlough. It is situated in the civil parish of Tickmacrevan a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

each July.

Overview

The main events take place at

Glenarm Castle Glenarm Castle, Glenarm, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is the ancestral home of the Earl of Antrim. History There has been a castle at Glenarm since the 13th century, where it resides at the heart of one of Northern Ireland's oldest estates. ...

. The festival was first held in 1995 and has grown to include Highland Games, celebrity chef demonstrations, performing arts, live music, craft stalls and children's entertainment. As part of the festival, Glenarm Castle also hosts outdoor concerts known as "DalriadaLIVE". Artists who have appeared at DalriadaLIVE include

General Fiasco General Fiasco are an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland. Since their formation in 2006, they have toured with Little Comets, Fighting With Wire, The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives, The Enemy, Jet and Kids in Gl ...

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 ...

, Amici,

The Priests The Priests are a classical musical group, made up of three Roman Catholic priests from the Diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland. Fr. Eugene and his brother Fr. Martin O'Hagan are originally from the village of Claudy, County Londond ...

, Brian Houston, David Phelps,

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

Sharon Corr Sharon Helga Corr MBE (born 24 March 1970) is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician, and television personality. She is best known as a member of the pop-rock band The Corrs, which she co-founded in 1990 with her elder brother Jim and younger sis ...

Nathan Carter Nathan Kane Tyrone Carter (born 28 May 1990) is a British-born Irish country music singer based in the UK and Ireland. He has released thirteen studio albums and six live albums as of December 2022, five of which peaked at number one, and four ...

and

Lisa McHugh Lisa McHugh (born 16 August 1988) is a Scottish pop and country singer. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Irish parents. Her father is from Castlederg in County Tyrone and her mother is from Falcarragh, County Donegal. In June 2010 she moved ...

. Glenarm village and the local area provides the location for the sporting events such as a

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

, kids

duathlon Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally. Distance and format ...

, mountain run, football,

shinty Shinty ( gd, camanachd, iomain) is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread in Scotland, an ...

, rowing regatta and horse hunt chase. The village also hosts community based events including a treasure hunt, fun run, it's a knockout, a foraging walk, and Northern Ireland's only wife-carrying competition. In 2013, additional events were added to the festival programme including a hiring fair and a super EnduroCross competition at the old quarry in Glenarm. The festival week traditionally comes to end with a street carnival, live music and a fireworks finale. The festival is seen as one of the best throughout Ireland and regularly sees over 25,000 people in attendance. The festival also supports a nominated charity each year, including SANDS and the Signal Foundation. The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid 19, but a 'Homefest' event was held in 2020 where artists performed at Glenarm with a livestream broadcast.

Dalfest

In 2021 the festival was repackaged as 'Dalfest' and was held as a live event with social distancing regulations in place. Artists included

The Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradley ...

Pixie Lott Victoria Louise Lott (born 12 January 1991), better known by her stage name Pixie Lott, is an English singer and songwriter. Her debut album, '' Turn It Up'', released in September 2009, reached number six on the UK Albums Chart and sold ove ...

and

Ella Henderson Gabriella Michelle Henderson (born 12 January 1996), known as Ella Henderson, is an English singer. She competed in the ninth series of ''The X Factor UK'' in 2012, finishing in sixth place despite being a strong favourite to win. She signed ...

. The 2022 event saw guests including

Tom Odell Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, ''Songs from Another Love'', in 2012. It won the 2013 BRIT Awards, BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio ...

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...

Roman Kemp Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, Paddy Raff,

Dea Matrona In Celtic mythology, Dea Matrona ("divine mother goddess") was the goddess who gives her name to the river Marne (ancient ''Matrŏna'') in Gaul. The Gaulish theonym ''Mātr-on-ā'' signifies "great mother" and the goddess of the Marne has been in ...

and the Belfast Community Gospel Choir. The 2023 festival is due to be held on 15–16 July, with The Vamps and

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

included in the guest list.Planet Radio website
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Camp Dalfest Official Website

Official Dalriada Festival Website

Official Glenarm Castle Website
Festivals in Northern Ireland Summer events in Northern Ireland