Overview

The World Fleadh is recognised as Ireland’s biggest Irish and Celtic music festival. The festival’s main attraction is its large scale marquee concerts and theatre performances featuring the best Irish traditional, contemporary & celtic music performers in the world. In addition, it plays host to a number of Ireland’s top céilí bands, a scheduled session trail, world title competitions in Irish traditional music, song & dance and master classes & demonstrations in various performance styles. To add to the aforementioned, the festival organisers have planned an incomparable range of family street and fringe activities to occur during The World Fleadh 2008 in Portlaoise.  

The World Fleadh was first staged in Kerry during August 2006 and as a result of the potential the event demonstrated during its second year, while staged in Portlaoise, a new limited company has been set up in Portlaoise which, through its Laois directors, recently acquired the rights to stage The World Fleadh festival in Portlaoise into the future. Galway man Eric Cunningham was cordially invited by the local directors of the new company, together with the local committee, to act Festival Director again and to become director of the new Laois based company.