Willy Clancy Summer School: Traditional music's version of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca got underway at the weekend as devout followers of the fiddle, flute, and concertina, descended from all corners of the globe on Miltown Malbay.
The west Clare village is described by the local tourist office as a "lively hamlet", but that's on the 51 weeks of the year when the Willy Clancy Summer School is not in session.
During "Willy Week", as its affectionately known, the population swells to that of a medium sized town, and lively does not begin to describe the atmosphere created by thousands of musicians, dancers, new age travellers, old age travellers, and plain, ordinary tourists.
Overseas visitors may be puzzled this year by the ubiquitous posters - one or two of them in Cyrillic script - welcoming people from Kazakhstan. In fact, the posters are leftovers from the Special Olympics, and the Kazakhs who were hosted here have all gone home to the steppes. But their departure will not make it any easier to find accommodation this week.
Most rooms within a 15 mile radius have been booked out for weeks, and in many cases months. There was some last minute availability yesterday on the sand dunes at Spanish Point, but you had to bring your own tent, and Clare County Council would rather you didn't.
For all the music and the craic associated with Willy Week, the event is very definitely a summer school, and outside of the pub sessions the emphasis is on learning.
The learning started on Saturday with a lecture by Fintan Vallely on "Traditional Music in Education and Arts Policy" and today it continues with the first graded classes in piping, tin whistle, flute, concertina, accordion, and fiddle.
Dancers have a choice of 10 workshops at different venues including the Community Hall in Miltown which, for example, offers instruction in the "Melleray Lancers, Carragh Lake Jig Set, Valentia Right and Left, and Fermanagh Quadrilles". If that sounds like hard work, other workshops are even more intimidating.
St Joseph's Secondary School in Spanish Point is offering one in "Steps and Rhythms of the Clare Set, Battering, etc.", which sounds like something the gardaí need to keep an eye on. Surprisingly, after the Kazakh visit, steppe dancing is not on offer. But no doubt there'll be some of that in the pubs.
Yesterday also featured the traditional Mass in Irish and the musical tribute at Willy Clancy's grave. Tonight sees a fiddle recital in the Community Hall with some of the instrument's greatest exponents including Martin Hayes and Paddy Glackin.
The week climaxes on Saturday next with the 31st Willy Clancy Memorial Concert.