Great Irish Hooley returns Labor Day Weekend 2018 to Disney Springs

The Great Irish Hooley returns this year, August 31 to September 3, 2018, to Raglan Road Irish Pub & Restaurant in Disney Springs.

The Labor Day weekend celebration of Irish song, dance, food and drink will feature nine Irish bands and the new Raglan Road Irish Dance Troupe.

The event kicks off at 3 p.m. Friday, August 31 and continues through Monday, September 3. Bands will play inside on the pub’s Grand Room stage, as well as the pub’s patio stage.

The Hooley, which is a traditional Irish social celebration, combines music ranging from traditional to rock tunes with entertainment and fun for the whole family.

The Hooley also will feature Celtic face-painting throughout the festival.

Headliners this year will inlcude:

JigJam: The multi-award-winning Irish quartet will bring their captivating brand of “CeltGrass” (a.k.a. I-Grass) – blending the best of traditional Irish music with Bluegrass and Americana. (Friday through Monday)

Lisa Canny Band: The outrageously talented Lisa Canny, 7-time All-Ireland champion on harp and banjo, is an emerging Irish force blending pop and hip-hop with traditional Irish rhythms. (Saturday through Monday)

Billow Wood :Known as Flat Out when they played Raglan Road in 2016, this male/female four-piece band fuses their unique brand of instrumentation with multi-vocals and harmonies for a blend of Irish and folk music. (Monday)

The Raglan Road Irish Dancers, plucked from the casts and stages of the world’s greatest Irish dance shows, will perform throughout the Great Irish Hooley.  And champion Irish dancer Ciaran Keating, Raglan Road’s show choreographer, will host an entertaining workshop that traces the origins of Irish dance from earliest jigs and reels through contemporary times.

Additional music acts throughout the long weekend will include:

Strings & Things: Strings & Things are an original Irish folk/trad crossover four-piece band from Tipperary/Galway. Over the years together they have created their own original sound and produced a variety of crossover songs by putting their own stamp on them.

The Byrne Brothers: An exceptionally talented traditional Irish music family from Donegal. They are Luca, 13 (button accordion); Finn, 11 (banjo, mandolin and whistle); Dempsey, 8, (whistle and bodhran); and father, Tommy (guitar, Uilleann pipes, fiddle, whistles, bagpipes and bodhran). Their show combines traditional Irish tunes with modern dance beats, and they love to interact with every audience.

Reel Republic: Hailing from the southwest corner of Ireland, Reel Republic are four seriously talented musicians revving up audiences with a solid spectrum of Irish tunes and songs.

TradGad: Three talented lads from Kerry, Dublin and Edinburgh charm Raglan Road audiences singing and playing guitar, fiddle, mandolin, uileann pipes, tin whistle, banjo and bazouki.

High Road: Three talented musicians hailing from Dublin, Kilkenny and Glasgow meet in the middle to play a crowd-pleasing symphony of traditional Irish tunes and songs.

Aaron O’Grady: An Irish import who will entice and beguile with his eclectic mix of Irish music.

The Raglan Road Irish Dancers:Plucked from the cast and stages of the world’s greatest Irish dance shows, the Raglan Road Irish Dancers perform throughout the Great Irish Hooley.

The complete entertainment schedule will be posted at www.raglanroad.com and www.greatirishhooley.com closer to the event.