International feel to US Bluegrass music festival at the Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh

​The open-air festival, now in its 32nd year, attracts thousands of Bluegrass music fans from across Northern Ireland and enthusiasts from mainland Britain, the Irish Republic and Europe, with the music richly blending with the picturesque West Tyrone folk park setting and unique cultural amenities.

American groups taking part this year include the Honey Dew Drops, from Baltimore, Maryland, and Zoe and Cloyd from Asheville in North Carolina. They will be joined by Viper Central, from Vancouver, Canada; Truffle Valley Boys, from Italy, the Bluegrass Boogiemen, from Holland; the Old Baby Mackeral, group from England, the Truffle Valley Boys, from Italy, and the Niall Toner band from Co Carlow.

The festival, now known as 'Bluegrass Omagh', will open on the Friday night with a concert in the Silverbirch hotel in Omagh with the main artistes taking part.

The Omagh festival, largely due to the efforts of director Richard Hurst and his team, has enjoyed much acclaim over the decades, including an International Bluegrass Music Association award 'Event of the Year' nomination in 2015.

The festival, for most of its years, was held in late August-early September, but it has now reverted to late May, with the longer nights and expected better weather a plus for the performers and the fans.

The festival has welcomed dozens of major names in American bluegrass and roots music, including Nashville duo Jamie Dailey and Darin Vincent (brother of Bluegrass icon Rhonda Vincent); The Grascals, fRom Nashville; the veteran Doyle Lawson and his Quicksilver band, from north east Tennessee; Claire Lynch and her band, Joe Mullins and the Radio Ramblers, Dale Anne Bradley and her band, from Kentucky; Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, Front Country; Chris Jones and the Night Drivers; champion country fiddler Michael Cleveland, from New York, as well as the award-winning husband and wife close harmony duo Darin and Brooke Aldridge, from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Appearances by performers of such high rating have enhanced the international status of bluegrass music at the Omagh venue.

Making a first appearance in Omagh this year are Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, of the Honey Dewdrops: an award-winning husband and wife duo from Baltimore, who perform fresh, original songs focusing on vocal harmonies and tight instrumentation.

They are Influenced by traditional Appalachian music and blend old styles with new, creating music that is both powerful and heartfelt.

Canadian group Viper Central are a dynamic musically energetic band, with a traditional bluegrass sound.

They have a high reputation at the major bluegrass festivals around Vancouver and British Columbia in western Canada. They have toured abroad in the UK and mainland Europe and should quite create a stir in Omagh.

Husband and wife John Cloyd Miller and Natalya Zoe Weinstein form the duo Zoe & Cloyd, who perform, and teach bluegrass, old-tyme, and American roots music in North Carolina.

John Cloyd Miller is a 12th-generation Scots-Irish North Carolina native and grandson of pioneering bluegrass fiddler Jim Shumate. They too are also making their Omagh debut.

The Bluegrass Boogiemen, from Holland, have been playing traditional bluegrass professionally since 1990.

'Bluegrass Omagh 2023' is set to be yet another enjoyable three-day hoedown extravaganza in the beautiful setting of the Ulster-American Folk Park, with tickets at the Folk Park base now selling briskly.