Ohio Irish American News ~ 6th Annual Festival Focus Issue: Letter from the Editor
The 6th Annual Festival Focus issue is here, in Issue #66. Festifying is one of our favorite activities; the chance to travel, hear great music, meet new friends and see old ones is one of the great joys of the summer. New story ideas abound and my muse goes into overdrive. There are hundreds of Irish and Celtic Festivals all across the land; some of the very best are highlighted in this issue.
Most weekends from June thru September, you can choose from several festivals all over the US, Canada and Ireland, depending only on what you want to see, and where you want to go. In July, you don’t even have to leave Ohio, as Cleveland, Dayton and Dublin go back-to-back-to-back on successive weekends, celebrating their 30th, 11th and 25th Annual festivals respectively. Bring your pillow, we’ll find you a corner. Every year, our June issue is devoted to the festivals, in ad, in column and in those who support this amazing culture all year long, whether they be organizers, performers, pubs, restaurants, venues or vendors.
Anniversaries seem to be a secondary theme this month. Dublin’s Niamh O’Sullivan’s is a frequent contributor to the OhIAN. We are grateful for her wisdom, and her words. Her guest column next month looks at the debate on celebrating 1916, in 2016 ~ it is only four years away, and on the minds of many Irish leaders around the world as they look forward, at the past.
The 100th Anniversary celebration of Cleveland’s World Boxing Champion, Johnny Kilbane, continues all summer, see Out & About Ohio for more details on this exhibit and where you can see it, as well as many other things going on Out & About Ohio.
The great Irish artist Louis Le Brocquy passed away last month, may he rest in peace. We celebrate his life, and his art, which inspired and influenced so many, in so many fields, whether they knew it or not. See Susan Mangan’s column on the artist.
From Festivals to Festival Organizers, Gatherings, Ingenuity, Travelling, books, memoires and most of all, Celebrations, carry the day in this issue. Take a look, save the date, and celebrate!
Follow me, where I go: www.facebook.com/OhioIrishAmericanNews, www.ianohio.com, www.twitter.com/jobjr. Hope to see you Out & About at a festival near you, where I’ll be performing “At Each End of the Rifle” at Penn-Mar, Cleveland, Dublin, Pittsburgh and iBAM Irish festivals. I’ll have my books and my camera, please stop by and say Hello.
Happy Anniversary,
John