MacD on Music: Festival Season: 2023 Edition

It's summertime (and for once actually feels like it), which means that, once again, festival season is upon us.

This year sees the return of the brilliant Stendhal Festival at the beginning of July. As usual, it features a brilliant line-up of talent (see: this column last month), including the wonderful Cara Dillon, who makes her Stendhal debut on Saturday the 8th.

Speaking about her musical beginnings, Cara says "Music was a big part of my life growing up in Dungiven and as a result all my friends played instruments or sang a wee bit.

"We were all taught fiddle or whistle in school, and I took Irish dancing lessons as well. I suppose the culture became a really important totem of identity during the troubles when so many civil rights were being eroded or ignored. In Dungiven I was swept up in the passion for the culture and I thank my lucky stars I was.”

In her teenage years, Cara would go on to join folk band Óige, which led her to consider music ad a potential full-time career choice: "I realised after a tour in Germany that one of the biggest parts of being a professional musician was touring and I really enjoyed it. It got me thinking this would be a grand thing to do this for a living. I think I was about 16 or 17 years old."

From here, Cara would go on to carve out a hugely successful solo career, including winning the Meteor Music Prize for Best Irish Female in 2004.

Speaking of this, Cara says: "Winning the Meteor Award for Best Irish Female in 2003 was so exciting and important for me at the time. I felt I had finally 'arrived' and that my hard work and all the sacrifices I made had been worth it as I had been given a stamp of approval in my own country and it meant the world to me. There have been other awards that have had more of an impact on my career, but that's a different thing.”

Now, almost twenty years later (I know, I know. 2004 should not be that long ago), Cara will be making her debut on the Stendhal stage.

Speaking about that, Cara says: "I'm so proud there is a fantastic festival just down the road from my homeplace. In England there are so many festivals and I really notice when I'm back home the lack of festivals here in the north. I love hearing from friends and family who is playing each year and love that this has grown from strength to strength. I can’t wait to finally see it all for myself.”

Although this is her first time at Stendhal, Cara is certainly no stranger to festivals around the world: "I love preforming at festivals. There's usually a party-like atmosphere. I particularly enjoy the fact that I can do one uninterrupted set and it's usually all my favourites, a bit of an indulgence.

"However, the downside to this is that it's over quickly and you are off the stage before you realise what just happened. As an artist this can be quite frustrating, when you are just getting warmed up to it all. Also, you're rarely playing to your own crowd so there's aways a desire to 'win the crowd', which helps everyone perform that little bit better."

"It's not just the music that is so great but the food, the crafts, the art and the way it brings people together in an almost tribal way. It's a fantastic way to escape the everyday-work, suits and ties, school, chores. And more than anything it’s a great leveller, everyone can be free to be themselves under the sky or stars.”

Now, some not-so-good news about Stendhal. Recently, a number of organisations were informed that Tourism Northern Ireland have scrapped their National Tourism Funding pot, a serious blow for events such as this. Festival Director Ross Parkhill says the decision has added major financial pressures onto the event but, with just five weeks to go, the best option was to keep going and hope that additional ticket sales can cover the cut funding. This has, unfortunately, meant that prices for camping tickets have had to rise.

"We didn’t take this decision lightly as we take immense pride in the value of our ticket price comparable to other camping and non-camping festivals, but we have no alternative to attempt to safeguard the future of the festival, again.

"It's only a matter of time before a number of events in this country are gone forever because they are simply unaffordable for organisers to put on, particularly independent ones such as us.”

"People have no idea the wringer we and other independent events have been through this past three years and TNI should feel absolutely ashamed of themselves.”

And finally, here's your weekly reminder to go pre-order Parker's debut album, 'Never Let This Go' on Bandcamp now. They can be found on Facebook and Instagram @bandcalledparker.

Cara Dillon can be found on Facebook and Instagram @caradillonsings.

For more information about Stendhal, find them @stendhalireland and stendhalfestival.com