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1st Annual Fairfax Feis - Festival of Irish Music & Dance October 14-15th

The 1st Annual Fairfax Feis - Festival of Irish Music & Dance is October 14th and 15th. Starting Friday at the Sleeping Lady and the Fairfax Pavilion. 10:30AM The SF Irish Pipers (bagpipers band) will march from Sleeping Lady to the Fairfax Pavilion


WEBWIRE

Fairfax, CA, October 5, 2011) —The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and Heartbeat Music© announce The 1st Annual Fairfax Feis - Festival of Irish Music and Dance  http://www.fairfaxfeis.com. The Feis will be held October 14-15th in venues throughout downtown Fairfax in Marin County, California.
 
A Feis is a traditional Gaelic arts and cultural festival modeled in the traditional Irish Flead Cheoil where music, dance and poetry and storytelling go on in pubs all throughout the towns. This is the 1st Feis to be modeled on the traditional Fleadh Cheoil in Ireland to be held in northern California.
 
Lineup for the Feis:
Girsa, Todd Denman & Friends, Shay & Michael Black, Dale Russ, Brosnan School of Irish Dancing, Culann’s Hounds, Kyle Alden, Lucia Comnes Band, Gerry Carthy, Colm Ó Riain, Gerry Forde, The Gas Men,The Mild Colonial Boys, Tipsy House, Vinnie Cronin & Barry O ’Connell, Pat Hamilton, Iseult Jordan & Liz Stires, Riggy Rackin, Pat & Sean O Donnell, Healy School of Irish Dance, Sinead & Roisin Lafferty, Ciaran Marsden & Friends, David Winter & SF Irish Pipers Band, Declan Hunt,The Toast Inspectors, Ted Anderson, Robyn Mercurio & Suzuki Cady, Set dancing with Michael Reimer & Friends, Poetry reading with Sara Berkeley-Tolchin.

Friday evening, October 14th. @ 6:00pm - The Feis Kicks off at The Fairfax Pavilion and at 8:30pm @ The Sleeping Lady Bar & Restaurant.
Saturday, October 15th @ 10:30am - SF Irish Pipers Band March from Sleeping Lady to Fairfax Pavillion.
Saturday, October 15th - 11am-7:30pm - Irish music and dance at Fairfax Pavilion. Tickets $30
Saturday 7:30pm Music in Venues throughout Downtown Fairfax - The Sleeping Lady,19 Broadway, Nave’s Bar, Sorella’s Cafe and Fairfax Coffee Roastery.

Tickets $15-$30 available on the website www.fairfaxfeis.com, at the door, and selected venues in the Bay Area (call 415 451 1924 for details).

Kids under 12 are free.
Senior discount available.

Join us on Twitter and Facebook @fairfaxfeis
www.fairfaxfeis.com
 
Schedule for Fairfax Feis Oct. 14th & 15th
Opening Night Friday: *your $15 ticket gets you into all venues on Friday night.
Friday Evening Shows - October 14th
The Fairfax Pavilion:
6:00pm - Opening Session with Gerry Carthy, Gerry Forde, Declan Hunt and Friends.
7:30pm - Shay and Michael Black.
9:00pm - Colm Ó Riain Band
10:15pm - The Mild Colonial Boys
The Brosnan School of Dancing will have dancers performing during the evening.
The Sleeping Lady Bar & Restaurant:
8:30pm - Toast Inspectors
10:00pm - Session with Vinnie Cronin and Barry O Connell
 
Saturday Day at the Fairfax Pavilion - $30.00 or $25 online before October 1st.
Saturday schedule – daytime – 10:30am to 7pm @ The Fairfax Pavilion – (subject to change)
10:30am - San Francisco Irish Pipers Band Will March From the Sleeping Lady Cafe (23 Broadway) to the Fairfax Pavilion
11:00am - Emcee Conor Howard Introduces The Sleeping Lady Session Players (John Caulfield, Kyle Alden, Cormac Gannon, David Winter, Suzuki Cady, Robyn Mercurio, Stan Winston, Ted Anderson, Jenny Love and Friends.
11:30am - Healy Irish Dancers
12:00pm - Dale Russ (fiddle)
1:00pm - Kyle Alden & The ‘Bee-Loud Glade’ Band
2:00pm - Gerry Forde with Irish Set Dancing with Michael Reimer and Friends
3:00pm - Gerry Carthy (tenor guitar/banjo/ whistle)
4:00pm - Poetry reading with Sara Berkeley-Tolchin and Singers Showcase with Riggy Rackin, Pat Hamilton, Iseult Jordan and Liz Stires
5:00pm - Todd Denman Band
6:00pm - Girsa
Ticket for Pavilion performances $30 *buy online for $25 before October 1st.
 

Saturday Evening Schedule in Venues Around Fairfax - $15.00 Your $15 multi-venue ticket gets you into the following shows throughout Fairfax on Saturday night.
Saturday evening - venues and schedule:
The Sleeping Lady:
7:30pm - Ciaran Marsden, Jenny Wiely, Steve Agacinski and Friends
9:30pm - Todd Denman Band
19 Broadway Nightclub:
7:30pm - Tipsy House
9:30pm - Lucia Comnes Band
Nave’s Bar:
7:30pm - The Gas Men
9:30pm - Culann’s Hounds
Sorella’s Cafe:
7:30pm - Gerry Carthy, Gerry Forde and Declan Hunt
Fairfax Coffee Roastery
7:30pm - Pat and Sean O Donnel, Sinead and Roisin Lafferty and Friends
 
Featured Artists include:
Girsa, Todd Denman & Friends, Shay & Michael Black, Brosnan School of Irish Dancing, Culann’s Hounds, Kyle Alden, Lucia Comnes Band, Gerry Carthy, Colm Ó Riain, The Gas Men, Gerry Forde, The Mild Colonial Boys, Dale Russ, Jack Gilder, Dave Cory, Pat Hamilton, John Pedersen, The Toast Inspectors and many more.
 
Feis attendees will enjoy traditional, fusion and hybrid Irish music, Irish dancing and food and drinks. Because the Fees is taking place October 14-15th the beautiful Fall colors will be in abundant supply.
 
David Smadbeck, a local musician and Co-President of The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce and Cormac Gannon, a member of the community and Irish band, The Gasmen, have wanted to launch an Irish music festival in Fairfax for many years. It is hoped that this festival carries on and expands the rich traditions of Irish music and dance.
According to Feis Co-Founders and producers, David Smadbeck— a realtor at Coldwell Banker, Co-owner of The Sleeping Lady and Fairfax Chamber of Commerce Co-President and Cormac Gannon—a musician in The Gasmen—a popular Irish Music band and a music company, Heartbeat Music©: “We have seen over the last number of years the rise in popularity of Irish traditional music locally, with weekly jam sessions in Fairfax, San Rafael, Inverness and other places. We think that now is the right time to hold a Festival highlighting this wonderful tradition of Irish music and dance, and want people to also experience and enjoy the unique town of Fairfax.  In addition, we hope to draw new visitors to downtown Fairfax to help our merchants and business community.”
 
Sponsors for the Feis include: The Sleeping Lady, Sorella Café, 19 Broadway, Nave’s, The Fairfax Coffee Roastery, Cain’s Tires, KALW, Irish American Crossroads Festival, Amazing Grace Music, Town of Fairfax, The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce, California Slate Company and Live Local.
 
 
There are three options for enjoying the program for the 1st Annual Fairfax Feis:
 
 
 
Visit http://www.fairfaxfeis.com to purchase tickets online and for more information. Tickets can also be purchased the day of the event subject to availability.
 
Why an Irish Festival in Fairfax?
Where else but Fairfax would a softball match between the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead take place? Fairfax merges various cultures: surfing, skateboarding, mountains, mountain biking, fishing with excellent restaurants and shopping plus a thriving music scene with such venues as The Sleeping Lady, 19 Broadway, Sorella Café, Nave’s Bar, The Fairfax Coffee Roastery and more. Many of these venues will continue the Feis with music into the night.
 
Festival Founders
Fairfax Feis co-founders Cormac Gannon and David Smadbeck met through friends who played music around the Bay Area.
Cormac Gannon originally is from County Mayo in the West of Ireland and has been a Bay Area resident since 1991. He plays bodhrán and guitar and sings. After meeting mandolin, guitar player, and singer Vincy Keehan, Cormac was introduced to the San Francisco Irish music scene. He and Vincy and other musicians formed ‘The Gas Men’. Cormac has always enjoyed organizing musical gatherings and jam sessions, as well as organizing gigs and trips for The Gas Men to such places as, Havana, Cuba, Buenos Aires, Argentina and Anchorage, Alaska. Living in the San Anselmo-Fairfax area since 2003, Cormac recognized the amazing potential of putting on an Irish Festival in the town of Fairfax, with its vibrant music venues, community spirit and beautiful people. He and David decided to take on the task of bringing together the amazing talents of the Bay Areas musicians and some brilliant of-town musicians to have a festival similar to the ‘Irish Fleadh Cheoil’ (Festival of Music) which take place annually in towns all over Ireland and around the world. Cormac is married to Ella and they have two daughters, Brigid and Teresa.
 
 
About The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce
 
The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization to promote a thriving business community in downtown Fairfax. Visit http://fairfaxcoc.com/
 
About Heartbeat Music
 
Through promoting concerts, festivals and musical gatherings, Heartbeat Music aims to share the joy of playing music and hearing live music in the community.
 
 
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Note to Media- Sandra Evans is the on site contact for Media for the Fairfax Feis
Cell 415 596 2089.
There will be spots for media trucks. Call and we’ll be happy to provide you with the details. Park once and all locations are within walking distance. Feis starts at 23 Broadway and winds down Bolinas Road to the Fairfax Pavilion. See map below
 

 
 
 



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