Martha Spencer

About the Festival Westport Folk and Bluegrass Festival is a boutique,3 day event that stages multiple, high quality musical acts from Ireland, Europe, the USA and beyond, all of whom are industry leaders of Bluegrass, American Old-Time and Folk Music. The festival was established in 2007 and is now widely regarded as the leading bluegrass festival in Ireland. The festival weekend comprises of 3 fully-seated and ticketed evening concerts, a range of informal pub gigs and sessions, a specialised squaredance, a range of workshops, a gospel hour concert, a luthier showcase, an intercultural education exhibition and a record fair. Over the past 17 years, Westport Folk & Bluegrass Festival has operated under the ethos of creating a welcoming environment for both musicians and music fans, while showcasing the beautiful town of Westport. In 2023, the festival has launch a new flagship project whereby for the first time ever we have created partnership and future collaboration between the festival, the University of Limerick – Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, East Tennessee State University - The Home of Bluegrass, and the Old time and Roots Music studies of Higher Education and The Centre of Popular music at Middle Tennessee State University