Irish Heartbeat Festival

The tour celebrates Ireland's national holiday, St. Patrick's Day, once again in 2025! Irish culture is booming. Irish folk in particular makes hearts beat faster. A firework display of music and song is guaranteed. The event lasts well over three hours and you will get to hear three varied and top-class groups from Ireland: Cua, Réalta and The Outcast Crew. A lively session with all the artists is the highlight at the end of the festival.

You can often recognize a good band like CUA by the fact that it is difficult to pigeonhole them. Because they break new ground and are creative, they produce a fresh sound. Two Irishmen and a Scotsman bring different instruments and backgrounds to the table. Not only Irish & Scottish folk, but also some blues, bluegrass and Americana masterfully played on fiddle, guitar, bouzouki and percussion. But the salt in the soup is the three-part singing.

Réalta means "star" in Gaelic and the quintet of the same name lets it shine brightly in the Irish firmament. The group was founded in Belfast in 2012 and has since established itself on the Irish music scene. The special feature of the Réalta sound are two Irish bagpipes. There are also two experts at work on the vocals: guitarist and singer Deirdre Galway sings traditional songs of a softer kind with a lyrical voice. Myles McCormack is responsible for the faster songs. Dermot Moynagh grooves on the Irish frame drum - known as the bodhrán. The quintet demonstrates how a new sound recipe can be created with a bit of flair and brains.

Has the death of the Pogues' legendary frontman Shane McGowan finally laid authentic folk punk to rest? We say: No! The number of Irish bands cultivating this style is getting smaller and smaller. No wonder, as the excessive lifestyle that usually goes hand in hand with this music is leaving its mark. In the Irish Midlands, "The Outcast Crew" sing and play for their local fans. Now the "Working Class Heroes" are embarking on their first international tour. The quintet really heat things up with their mixture of folk, rock, ska and punk. Drums and electric bass stoke a pulsating ember onto which a beguiling Irish folk-scented essence is poured. This is a one hundred percent distillate of fiddle, accordion, guitar and vocals. The singer and guitarist Brian O'Mahoney not only looks like a roughneck, but also sounds like one with his grating voice. The "Godfathers of punky folk" are the ideal group to be the last band standing at the festival.