Dún Laoghaire will do it all in three days, writes Jim Carroll
The numbers say it all. This year's Festival of World Cultures is the fifth global jamboree to be held in Dún Laoghaire, with 160 events featuring artists from over 50 countries taking place in 40 venues over three days and nights.
Last year, organisers counted 160,000 people shuffling through the town to see such acts as Nitin Sawhney and Amparanoia or take part in a plethora of workshops and free events. This year, upgrade works on the Dart line have been cancelled for the weekend to ensure that the masses are shipped to the town. There, they can take in everything from Czech folk-dance troupe Gaudeamus to the Irish-Japanese meeting of minds between Kíla and Japanese-Ainu musician Oki.
This urban Glastonbury is now firmly established as the most family-friendly beano on the Irish festival calendar. Some purists may sniff about the arts-and-crafts elements and some of the musical acts on show, yet those who will be flocking to Newtownsmith Green for the big outdoor gigs, the People's Park for the more children-orientated events, or all over town for bellydancing and drummers will be none too bothered.
But this year's festival does feature a far more substantial musical bill of fare than in previous years. Besides Catalan flamenco fusion troopers Ojos de Brujo, there are slots for such acts as Senegalese rappers Daara J, innovative Turkish sufi producer Mercan Dede, Bollywood diva Usha Uthup, and Anglo-Asian underground stalwarts Fun 'Da' Mental with South African gospel upstarts the Mighty Zulu Nation.
Representing the future hip-hop sounds of Dakar, Daara J impressed many with their Boomrang album, which gathered a slew of awards last year. As anyone who saw them on their short Irish tour last year knows, they have the chops to put on one hell of a live show.
Calcutta-based singer Usha Uthup has been thrilling Bollywood fans since the 1970s by mixing pop and Indian classical into a beguiling sound. Long before it was fashionable, PropaGhandi's Fun 'Da' Mental collective have amplified a new Anglo-Asian fusion involving bhangra, punk, hip-hop and the blues.
Fusion, it seems, is the new rock'n'roll in Dún Laoghaire, and Mercan Dede is another example of this trend. Born in Turkey and raised in Montreal, Dede mixes Eastern Sufi music with modern ambient and electronic sounds to create something which is both new and old and East and West. His Su album perfectly captures his mesmerising mix of sounds and styles. Dede's something of a prolific collaborator and a bona-fide star in Istanbul, drawing audiences of up to 20,000.
Naturally, there's a strong showing of Irish acts on the bill. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that festival organisers have worked closely with many of the new Irish communities to ensure that they are represented. All shades of the new musical Ireland will be in attendance,from a Chinese karaoke night and eight-strong Irish/Congolese band The Lace to Donegal sean-nós choir Cór Thaobh a' Leithid and Gael Slí's charismatic fusion of roots and rock.
Another festival forte is clubbing, and this year's dancefloor will be as wild and varied as anything the visiting musicians in town can conjure up. Brazilian DJ Dolores leads the way, concentrating on a sonic soundclash rooted in the reggae-like music of Belém from the country's Pará area.
If that doesn't get you moving, there's always Ben Ó Faoláin and Will Softly's Galway-based global beats roadshow Club 0a2, the block party sounds and styles of El Barrio, or Billy Scurry's best-foot-forward mix of a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
That's just the tip of the cultural cocktail which awaits in Dún Laoghaire at the end of the month. If you have only a few hours, you can take in music instrument workshops, educational talks, panel discussions and folk dancing as well as a live show or two. If you have the whole weekend, you can always take your tent.
The Festival of World Cultures runs from August 26th-28th all over Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. Full details can be found at www.festivalof worldcultures.com
