Fleadh Cheoil

Each year, a different town or city plays host to the Fleadh Cheoil, facilitating exposure to new musicians and styles, as well as opportunities to discover new repertoire, for all in attendance.

The competition, arguably the most prestigious and "serious" portion of the event, is held alongside a parade, countless impromptu jam sessions and performing musicians—many of global renown and previous All-Ireland winners, themselves.

Competitors and attendees of the Fleadh Cheoil come from across the whole of Ireland, as well as many European countries, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and more.

The latter event is not restricted to the American Midwest specifically, as it caters to regions with historically prominent Irish populations and associated music scenes, such as Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco and St. Louis, among others.

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

In the years that followed, the number of would-be competitors grew so large that qualifying stages had to be arranged at county and provincial levels.

Today, nearly 55 years on, fleadhanna (plural of fleadh) at each level provide a platform and a meeting place for the thousands of musicians, singers and dancers who carry on the tradition.

Towns and cities wishing to host Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann must submit several applications to Ardchomhairle an Chomaltais – the highest committee within CCÉ.

Certain members of the Ardchomhairle then inspect the applicant towns and the locations that have been proposed as competition venues, before coming to a final decision several weeks after the preceding fleadh, usually in September.

[18] The 2023 All-Ireland Fleadh also took place in Mullingar for a second consecutive year; Belfast and Wexford made unsuccessful bids to host the event in 2023.