Our Back Yard first appeared in 2014, took a break in 2015 but re-appeared in 2016 stronger than ever. Thankfully the (admittedly small) pattern of breaks has been broken as the organisers announced that the open air event will return in 2017 with…
Belfast country rockers The Rising have had a tumultuous time of late. First came a change in their sound with Chantelle McAteer taking over lead vocals, before guitarist Chris Logan was involved in a serious road traffic accident. It is safe to…
After a successful debut event in 2016, Moira Calling returns for its sophomore offering with not one but two days of live music across Friday 7th and Saturday 8th September 2017. The organisers have unveiled a bill of fourteen acts…
Downpatrick’s most famous sons, Ash have been confirmed as the Friday night headliners of Stendhal Festival for 2017. Recent years have seen the festival go from strength to strength as more and this move to bring in one of Northern…
As a regular name in families’ summer diaries and a staple part of the artist festival-circuit, Hillsborough’s own Sunflowerfest has been nominated for Tourism NI’s Northern Ireland Tourism Awards 2017 – with the 2016 festival being nominated in the Best…
We are beginning to take CQAF for granted. Over the last 17 years the festival has hosted a myriad of top quality international, national and local events in venues across Belfast and their 18th year will be no different. The…
After a very successful first year, the Women’s Work Festival will return for its second outing in May 2017. Curated by Charlotte Dryden and her team at the Oh Yeah Music Centre, it will feature a myriad of events celebrating…
Formerly known as the Holywood Blues & Jazz Festival, the revitalised Holywood Harmony Festival takes place between Friday 2nd and Sunday 4th June 2017. The family festival event will feature headline performances from Ulaid & Duke Special, The Hothouse Flowers…
After three months of listening to and debating over one hundred entries, the four finalists of the 2017 edition of our Kickstart competition took to the Oh Yeah Centre stage to showcase their talent. A attentive room listened intently to…
Hillsborough’s Sunflowerfest music festival returns once again this summer, adopting a ‘Parallel Universe’ theme. The festival has grown in stature from its site at Tubby’s Farm and has once again packed its line-up with acts from these shores and beyond….
The time, dedication and work put into any album is worth remembering. If your recording sessions take you from Belfast to Chicago to record with the legendary Steve Albini it’s probably even more so. Northern Irish folk band Malojian documented the recording process of…
Custom House Square has hosted a wide range of musical events over the years most notably Belsonic’s summer gigs. With Belsonic moving to a bigger site in Ormeau Park, there was room for a new series of gigs to take…
This has undoubtedly been one of the strongest shortlists that our Kickstart competition has ever produced. This was reinforced by all the positive feedback from our panel of independent judges. After a tough week of deliberation the panel has settled…
This is always our favourite time of year at Chordblossom HQ. Our Kickstart competition always throws light on artists we weren’t aware of before and every year we make some fantastic new discoveries. Over 100 bands and musicians entered our competition…
The Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival returns from Wednesday 1st March 2017 and culminates on Sunday 5th March 2017. As ever, it is a packed programme of events for all. The programme is dominated by a series of live music events, with…