Fleadh Cheoil

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The Fleadh Cheoil (lit. Festival of Music in English) is an Irish music competition run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ).

There are various stages to the competition. In England there are regionals, then nationals and then qualifications for the All-Ireland and in Ireland there are counties, provinces then the All-Ireland. One can compete in just about any instrument and there are various age categories. It is considered very competitive.

The first national festival of Irish traditional music was held in Mullingar in 1951. At its inaugural meeting in September 1951, CCÉ came up with the title of Fleadh Cheoil, aiming to make this a great national festival.

In the years that followed, fleadheanna (the plural form of fleadh) at county and provincial were organised. Since then, Fleadh Nua (the new fleadh), Fleadh na Breataine (an All-Britain fleadh) and regional fleadhanna in Britain, and two major fleadhanna in the USA have also become annual CCÉ events.

From its beginning, the goal of the Fleadh Cheoil was to establish standards in Irish traditional music through competition. The Fleadh developed as a mainly competitive event, but it also included many concerts, céilithe, parades, pageants, and street sessions.

Right through the sixties and seventies, the Fleadh continued to grow and the number of would-be competitors grew so large that qualifying stages had to be arranged, at county and provincial level, to produce a manageable number of participants for the All-Ireland finals at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

Today, nearly 50 years on, fleadhanna at each level provide a platform and a meeting place for the thousands of musicians (around 20,000 performers compete in fleadhanna each year) who carry on the tradition of playing and cherishing Irish music, songs, and dances. Impromptu sessions usually follow the competitions.

The 2007 festival will be held in Tullamore, County Offaly.

A complete list of venue where the All Ireland Fleadh has been held can be seen here.

[edit] Competition categories

According to CCÉ's official rules for 2005,

Solo competitions shall be held for the following instruments: fiddle; two-row accordion; concert flute; whistle; piano accordion; concertina; uilleann pipes; harp; mouth organ; banjo; mandolin - excluding banjo-mandolin; piano; old-style melodeon; bodhrán; war pipes; miscellaneous such as three and five row button accordion, piccolo, harmonica and other stringed instruments; céilí band drums; accompaniment – confined to piano, harp, guitar and bouzouki type instruments; solo traditional singing in Irish and English; whistling; lilting; newly composed ballads and amhráin nua-cheaptha.

Solo competitions for slow airs shall be held in all age groups for the following instruments: (a) fiddle; (b) concert flute; (c) whistle; (d) uilleann pipes.

There are also competitions for the following ensembles: duet, trio, ceili band, instrumental group (grupai cheoil), accordion band, pipe band, and miscellaneous ensemble.

The full rule set, which may change from year to year, is available from CCÉ.