Puerto Rico has a rich heritage of music of many forms.  In addition, many Irish immigrants made their homes on the island and their descendants remain here.  There is a great interest among the population in Irish culture such as music, dance and history - as evidenced by the 2023 International Uilleann Piping Day (see the Youtube Video documenting the day) which drew hundreds of musicians and listeners.

But despite this, there is little presence of Irish music or Irish-Puerto Rican musical fusion on the island.  All over the world - from Japan to Kathmandu to Oslo - Irish musicians gather at pubs and in kitchens for a traditional “session,” where they spontaneously play and share oral tradition repertoire that they have in common.  No such gatherings occur regularly in San Juan or anywhere in Puerto Rico.

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The Puerto Rico Irish Music Festival aims to address this!  We are offering Irish music instructional workshops/classes, concerts and sessions for all levels of players at this exciting, community-focused weekend.  We hope to welcome visitors from the mainland U.S. (and other nations as well!) who already play Irish music and want to share their passion with Puerto Rican resident musicians or aspiring musicians.  Our vision is that this cultural exchange - full of joy, tradition, learning and innovation - will plant and germinate seeds of an Irish musical community on the beautiful island of PR.  

 

If you call Puerto Rico your home, we are especially excited to welcome you to our festival, even if you have never played an instrument before.  We will guide you through the basics of learning a new instrument (or a new style of music if you already play) as well as how traditional sessions work.  You will have opportunities both to enjoy the music as an audience member, and be an active student and session player.

 

Welcome to our festival!