Warm welcome for winter festivals

The music business never misses a trick. The summer season is now saturated with festivals and events, so the rest of the year is now also fair game for the festival business.

The growth of winter festivals is to be applauded. There’s something far more appealing about music gatherings that don’t have anything to do with camping and fields. The winter events are also the ones that use existing venues, which come with such essentials as walls, floors and a roof ensuring a better experience all round.

Metropolis is the big new arrival on the Irish calendar with The Roots, Chic, Hot Chip, Jamie xx, Giorgio Moroder, Jeff Mills and many more playing Dublin’s RDS on November 7th- 8th. Later this month, Interlude at The RHA gallery from October 23 to 25 will feature Little Xs for Eyes, Carriages, Paddy Hanna, Ashley Beedle and other live acts and DJs. Further afield, Community is a new London festival with a rake of new acts playing in venues across east London from November 3rd-5th.

But don’t forget the ones who were here long before the current grá for winter events took hold. Trans Musicales has been running in Rennes since 1979, thanks to Jean-Louis Brossard’s razor-sharp ability to spot fresh new talent, and is back from December 2nd-6th. The first weekend of December is also when Other Voices takes over Dingle in Co Kerry.

Iceland Airwaves will be drawing the masses to Reykjavik from November 4th-8th, while Eurosonic celebrates its 30th year of showcasing new European music in Groningen from January 13th-15th.