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Atlantic Sessions Virtual Festival free to view this weekend

Atlantic Sessions Virtual Festival free to view this weekend

Mon, November 09, 2020

This weekend (13, 14 & 15 November at 7pm) Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council in association with Snow Water will be bringing the Atlantic Sessions Virtual Festival to your homes. Artists have been filmed in stunning locations across Portstewart and Portrush during the last weeks, and we have three one hour ‘free to view’ programmes with exclusive performances, conversations, plus messages and videos from festival family and friends.

Artists featured include Anthony Toner, Conor Mason, Joel Harkin, Malojian, New Pagans, Peter O’Kane, Ports, Roe, Sasha Samara, The Darkling Air, Tour Alaska and the programmes are presented by Joe Lindsay. They feature six of the NI Music Prize 2020 nominees, local performers, plus tell the story of the rich musical heritage of the area, all filmed by the incredible Atlantic Ocean.

Last year saw the largest and most successful Atlantic Sessions to date with over 7,000 people ascending on Portstewart and Portrush to see over 100 musicians. Audiences travelled from right across Ireland to hear musicians play throughout the four days. Restaurants, hotels, pubs, coffee shops, music venues and the Town Hall were packed with the festival attracting new customers for them. Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody said “Atlantic Sessions is an award-winning four day festival with an incredible reputation for its passionate support of local talent.”

However this year Atlantic Sessions has been working in partnership with Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland in order to showcase local talent to a global audience, and are excited that for the first time the festival will be viewed across the world.

The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Alderman Mark Fielding said: "Our Events programme has been significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and it is very disappointing that we are unable to bring you Atlantic Sessions in its usual format this year. However we are delighted to launch our Virtual Festival featuring some of the finest musicians in the country, performing at some of our most stunning outdoor locations, which you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

"I hope that our virtual festival will still, in some, way bring people together and instill some joy at this difficult and uncertain time. I would like to thank all our host venues and festival goers for their support over the years and for your understanding at this time."

Presenter Joe Lindsay commented: “We’ll miss seeing you this year and we miss live music as much as you do, but we thought we’d do the next best thing and Atlantic Sessions to your homes! We wanted us all to be together, we wanted to experience the power and beauty of music. Together. As we’ve always done. And we will do again. Until then, keep supporting local music and venues in any way you can.”

Snow Water Director Carolyn Mathers said: “Thank you to our dedicated audiences and venues for their support over the past years as they make the festival. We are excited that this year we can showcase Atlantic Sessions to viewers across the globe. You can continue to support your favourite local bands, singers, songwriters and musicians by buying their music and merchandise directly from their websites. Our creative community is precious and here’s to celebrating live music with you on the other side.”

We are delighted that some of the fabulous Taste Causeway providers have teamed up with us to offer some delicious treats for you to enjoy alongside Atlantic Sessions. Check them out here .

Free to view on Fri 13th, Sat 14th & Sun 15th November at 7pm to 8pm at atlanticsessions.com

Follow @atlanticsess @visitcauseway to keep up to date

Watch the Trailer below

Atlantic Sessions is a Causeway Coast and Glens Council event in association with Snow Water.

Anthony Toner is one of Northern Ireland’s most prolific and revered songwriters – once described as ‘James Taylor meets John Prine – in a second hand bookshop’. His songs are insightful, heart-filled short stories, peopled with unforgettable characters - and augmented by superb fingerstyle guitar playing Photography by Bradley Quinn. Hailing from the historic walled city of Derry, music has been present in Conor Mason’s life from a young age. With three albums under his belt, he has now found his space on the musical landscape Hailing from Letterkenny in Co. Donegal, Belfast-based musician Joel Harkin is an artist who effortlessly distils wanderlust to song. Over the last few years, Malojian has released 4 stunning solo albums, along the way collaborating with some musical legends, including Steve Albini, who earned his chops producing Nirvana, The Pixies etc. New Pagans are one of the most exciting and interesting rising acts, both sonically and visually. Their presence has been continuing to build and in 2019 they were shortlisted for ‘Best Single’ with their track ‘It’s Darker’ and ‘Best Live Act’ at the 2019 Northern Ireland Music Prize Peter O’Kane is a drummer and Bodhrán player from Coleraine. Peter starting playing Bodhrán at the age of 11 and by 12 he was performing with his family in their Folk band Ports are a four piece band consisting of Steven McCool (Bass and Vocals), Mark O'Doherty (Drums), Ryan Griffiths (Guitar) and Conor Mason (Piano). After the release of their first demo ‘I’d Let You Win’, The band received a flood of fantastic reviews including; 'Flavour of the Month' and 'Ones to Watch' from BBC Introducing ROE is 21-year-old multi-instrumentalist from Derry, Roisin Donald. Laying down her unique brand of self-styled Dark Indie-Pop, she has been blazing a trail for young female indie artists across Ireland, UK, Europe and beyond The Darkling Air is Rachel McCarthy and Michael Keeney. The music involves voice, piano and guitar and is often wreathed in string arrangements featuring Arco String Quartet. Tour Alaska is the solo project of A Plastic Rose frontman Gerry Norman. This solo expedition is a chance for the Sligo raised artist to show a more mellow side by swapping distorted guitars and screaming vocals for the stripped-back sound of acoustic guitar, piano and viola.
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