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The World Bodhrán
Championships is an exciting new world percussion festival held
annually in Milltown, County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland.
The event which promotes and showcases the Irish frame drum, the
bodhrán, includes four days of concerts, music sessions,
workshops and the competitions to find the best bodhrán
player in the world. This years festival took place from 30th
May to 2nd June 2008. See our news Page for details of The
2009 event.
IN 2008, the World Bodhran Championships featured
a concert performance by The Chieftains on 31st May as
well as entertainment from Northern-based group Beoga, featuring
Eamon Murray on bodhran, and Danish traditional music band, Moving
Cloud.
The World Bodhrán Championships, which is run by the local branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann was an overwhelming success in 2006 and 2007. On this site you can find everything you need to know about the event - how to get here, where to stay, what to do, how to enter competitions and how to immerse yourself in the pulsating rhythms of the World Bodhrán Championships.
Details of the next World Bodhrán Championships will be posted here on an ongoing basis. This is the only such festival in the world and is the only international solo playing bodhrán competition.
The festival aims to promote the bodhrán and its place in Irish traditional music and heritage. The bodhrán has often been frowned upon by other musicians and one of our objectives is to prove that it is as essential and wonderful an instrument as any other when played well. Ours is the only solo bodhrán playing competition in the world and we are pursuing new innovations in bodhrán playing all the time.
Conor Lyons from Dublin was crowned World Bodhrán Champion in both senior and solo-playing categories at last year's festival with Joseph McNulty from Mayo becoming under-14 champion and Niall Preston from Dublin the under-18 champion. See the News link for more information.
We hope you enjoy our website and that you will join us in Milltown for a weekend of Irish music, song and dance.
If you have never heard the bodhrán before or if you want to hear it played by the best performers in the world, don't miss this unique and exhilirating event.
Bígí linn le do bodhrán!
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