In 2001, Panarts piloted the first Belfast Nashville Songwriters' Festival, to celebrate the art of song writing and discover more about the links between our musical heritage and the traditional roots of American song writing. This unique event takes place across the capital city between February 21st and 25th, and involves more than 40 performances from artists hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. A number of songwriting workshops will also take place during the event, led by experts, while a photographic exhibition and talks covering the historical links between Belfast and Nashville can also be attended by visitors.

This year, concerts throughout the Festival will feature top US act, Lee Roy Parnell and Grammy Award winning Nashville songwriters Paul Overstreet, Richard Leigh and Gary Nicholson and top Nashville hit writers Tony Arata, James Dean Hicks, Ralph Murphy and Benita Hill. Local UK/Ireland artists Bap Kennedy, Tommy Sands, Eleanor McEvoy, Rod Paterson (Scotland), Ken Haddock and many other talented artists will perform in venues across the city of Belfast. The Delawares, Breag and Tin Pot Operation will be on stage and The Broken String Band will perform their show, `Bluegrass Legends`.

The Fiddler's Green International Music and Arts Festival, which takes place annually in the beautiful village of Rostrevor, Co Down, will run this year from Sunday 25th July to Sunday 1st August. The Festival is an established annual international celebration of local music, arts and culture and its strength lies in the wealth of community involvement, much of it of a cross community nature. It is more than just a music festival, spanning over two hundred varied events.The Festival, held at the foothills of the Mourne Mountains on the County Down coast, just one hours drive from Belfast and two hours from Dublin, presents two prestigeous awards each year - The Hall of Fame Award and the Creative Arts Award.

The Hall of Fame Award is presented to a person or group who has made a valuable contribution to Irish music and culture. This year's recipient will be Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains. The Creative Arts Award was created in the year 2000 to mark the Millennium and to celebrate the great talents in the wider arts arena.

Source:www.tradmusic.com
          www.panarts.org.uk