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ITMA Photographer-in-Residence 2026
An Ode to Birmingham Trad Fest
The buzz on the first night of a trad festival is one to be reckoned with, and one you may be no stranger to, but the first night at Birmingham Trad Fest in 2014 was in a league of its own. Flying out to a trad festival carries its own special kind of excitement and this time it was to a new city, a new festival, and new people. Digbeth was hopping by the time we landed. We met a rake of Brummy Trad heads we didn’t know existed and had surprise reunions with familiar faces from all corners of these islands. It was very quickly decided that night that “The Trip to Birmingham TradFest” would become our annual November pilgrimage.
And that it did. It was a regular in the calendar until Covid hit, then kicked off again with a bang in 2022 for some of its best years yet. I was lucky to join their team at this stage after reaching out to Dan, Ciaran, and Hugh as a friend and budding photographer keen to work at the festival. They took me in with open arms, and it became my first professional role as a festival photographer. Irish traditional music has thrived in Birmingham for generations, largely thanks to the influence of the Molloy family. It was fitting then that the festival presented “The Molloy Award” in their honour. This award was a great way to platform young, up-and-coming solo musicians and bands, giving the winner the chance to go on to play support at the Saturday night gig alongside some of their idols. The festival hosted impressive line-ups over the years, with acts including The Mairtín O’Connor Trio, Dervish, Flook, Lúnasa, Ríoghnach Connolly, Siobhán Peoples, Mike McGoldrick, Bríd Harper… the list goes on.
Irish traditional music has thrived in Birmingham for generations, largely thanks to the influence of the Molloy family. It was fitting then that the festival presented “The Molloy Award” in their honour. This award was a great way to platform young, up-and-coming solo musicians and bands, giving the winner the chance to go on to play support at the Saturday night gig alongside some of their idols.
The festival hosted impressive line-ups over the years, with acts including The Mairtín O’Connor Trio, Dervish, Flook, Lúnasa, Ríoghnach Connolly, Siobhán Peoples, Mike McGoldrick, Bríd Harper… the list goes on.
The Festival Club that followed was an absolute free-for-all. Performers were a mixed bag of festival headliners and groups of friends attending the festival, with musicians being plucked from the crowd as the night went on.
They would jump up to play totally unrehearsed and still manage to bang out a killer set. It feels both nostalgic and bittersweet now, thinking back on some of the combinations that came together on those stages, as these musicians would likely never share a stage again. A special mention must go to our dear friend Eamonn Nugent, who we sadly lost in 2024. No stranger to that stage, those nights would never have been the same without him.
The sessions were next to none. A particular 14-hour session with the Kellys comes to mind, in the snug of Norton’s. From the roaring tunes and sing-songs to the hushed harp and harmonica solos, life outside that room was the last thing on anyone’s mind.
No nod to the sessions in Birmingham can be made without a mention of the mighty Noreen Cullen – a woman with a laugh so boisterous and infectious it could be heard four pubs down, and a manic fiddle bow that needed its own insurance policy. I’ve never quite understood how, but the pubs in Digbeth felt like they never closed, with tunes and pints in full flow until all hours of the morning, without a peep of hesitation from the bar staff. If it weren’t for the accents, you’d have sworn you were in a lock-in at your local pub in Ireland.
The last stop of the night then would be The Mosley Arms – what a fever dream! Festival-goers would be landing home at 7 a.m., getting served their nightcaps at the bar, their trad icons coming down for breakfast before their flights home, whilst the eccentric Brummy elders were reliably perched on the bar stools, serving as a calming presence throughout the chaos of it all.
Regrettably, Birmingham Trad Fest had to take an indefinite break in 2025, a huge loss to the trad community. This festival was entirely volunteer-led, and the team would go out of their way to look after everyone as if they were family. But this can only go so far without the appropriate support and funding. It’s unfortunate that this is the sad reality for many community-run festivals. These spaces are vital for nourishing our music and culture, and it’s festivals like Birmingham TradFest that keep it alive and thriving. A huge thanks to Dan, Ciaran, Hugh, Conor, Lenora, and the rest of the team for all the work they put in over the years, and for the memories and lifelong friendships created on those weekends. I really have them to thank for the leg up into the career I have now. Let’s hope the break is only short-term, and that we will all find ourselves back there for a reunion before long!
Claire Loughran, March 2026
