Cultural Partnerships

Fèis Rois x National Celtic Folk Festival

Fèis is the Scottish Gaelic word for 'Festival' and Rois translates as 'Ross'. Ross-Shire is the area of Scotland where the organisation is based.

The partnership between these two organisations began when NCFF Festival Director Una McAlinden and Fèis Rois Chief Executive Fiona Dalgetty met in 2011 on a trip to Scotland. After meeting again at the Showcase Scotland event at Celtic Connections in 2012, they began working together.

Over the last decade, they have developed a strong partnership that has allowed multiple music professionals and young artists to travel from Fèis Rois to Australia and vice versa for performances, media exposure and educational experiences.

Caleb Anderson

Caleb Anderson was our Face of the Festival in 2019. This year, he will head to Scotland, supported by the festival and our partner Fèis Rois, to join their Ceildh Trail. He will tour with other young and talented Scottish artists as part of this highly recognised development program for young artists. We look forward to Caleb sharing his learning and experiences with us on his return.

NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD x National Celtic Folk Festival

With over 125,000 people in Australia claiming Welsh heritage, it is only natural that there is a great interest in Welsh traditions across the country.The National Eisteddfod and the National Celtic Folk Festival have launched a new partnership in 2019, which promotes Welsh culture on an international stage.

And this partnership was launched through a beautiful collaboration between one of Wales's leading folk musicians, Angharad Jenkins (Calan, DnA, Pendevig) and Jenny M Thomas of the band Bush Gothic, who are known for reinterpreting Australia's darkest and most unfamiliar folk songs, as well as reworking familiar yet non-fashionable songs. During the lockdown period, Jenny and Angharad collaborated in different parts of the world, sharing experiences and songs as Jenny learned about our music here in Wales.

Bush Gothic and Angharad's collaboration is the first in a series of projects that the Eisteddfod and the National Celtic Folk Festival hope to complete over the next few years. Eisteddfod Organiser and Artistic Director Elen Elis said, "This partnership is part of our international strategy to ensure that our language and culture is recognised amongst the best in the world. We have long wanted to develop a project that showcases traditional music in a completely alternative way, and the lockdown period was a perfect opportunity for us to get Angharad and Jenny together, albeit virtually."

"It's important that we develop international opportunities for artists who normally perform with us at the National Eisteddfod. We want everyone to see how fantastic Welsh culture is, and the quality of our artists. This important partnership with the National Celtic Folk Festival in Australia is a great opportunity to do this, and we look forward to working on a number of other joint projects with Una and the team in the future."

Supporting Young Artists

Recognising her talent and passion, Ailish has been accepted to compete in the All-Ireland fleadh in Mullingar. This is the first time an Australian has competed on concertina and the National Celtic Folk Festival is pleased to support Ailish in her adventure this year. We are all behind Ailish, but no more than her father, Jody who nurtured her interest as a youngest first teaching her tin whistle and then progressing to concertina.

Ailish Moran

Playing traditional Irish music since she was 4 years old, Ailish Moran, now 16, is travelling to Ireland to immerse herself in the trad music scene and attend a range of music schools across the country.

Ceoltóirí Naarm at National Celtic Festival 2023

The Melbourne branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was delighted to present a group of their young musicians at the 2023 National Celtic Festival, for the very first time.

This talented bunch, aged 11 to 18, travel from the city, suburbs and regional Victoria each Wednesday night to play Irish music, and to learn a few new tunes. At this year’s festival, they showcased a fantastic, vibrant selection of jigs, slides, hornpipes, reels & more. Bígí linn!