Sean-nós Northwest Festival 2026

Portland, Oregon, welcomes back Sean-nós Northwest (SNNW), an Irish festival in its 15th year of celebrating and promoting the deep Irish cultural practices of sean-nós singing, sean-nós dancing, and the Irish language (Gaeilge). Despite Ireland’s colonial past, these incredibly rare treasures remain at the heart of Irish culture. Our festival, sponsored by the 501(c)(3) non-profit Irish Cultural Society of the Pacific Northwest (ICSPNW), endeavors to sustain a vibrant regional community for these and other Irish cultural practices, including storytelling, poetry, craft, and vernacular dance. This year, we reflect on the Irish proverb Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin - there is no hearth like your own hearth; that is to say that there’s no place like Portland! Accordingly, we warmly welcome three renowned proponents of the Irish tradition living in Boston, Massachusetts, to our emerald-green hearth in the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Singer Máirín Uí Chéide (Ceantar na nOileán, Co. Galway), accordionist Colin Kadis (Boston, MA), and fiddler Seán Clohessy (Fedamore, Co. Limerick) join our own accomplished PNW instructors Maldon Meehan (dance), Alicia Guinn (dance), Niall Ó Murchú (Irish), and Denis Kautsman-Kofanov (Irish) for an exciting (and extended) weekend of singing, dancing, music-making, comhrá, and workshopping at locations around our beautiful city of Portland! This festival wouldn’t be what it is without these special guests along with educators from community partners, including Portland Folk Music Society, Corrib Theatre, Rewild Portland, and Hedgerow Herb Co. who will be offering workshops in storytelling, folk theatre, willow weaving, and herbalism at Portland Community College - Sylvania. The digital classrooms at PCC also makes long-distance learning possible, with Dubhán Ó Longáin and Genevieve Galarneau (Bealach Féich, Co. Donegal), who will be presenting workshops on the stories of the Fenians (Fiannaíocht) and on the performance of these stories through song (Laoi). Rare gems, indeed! More information and registration for these workshops, which run Saturday, May 16 & Sunday, May 17, can be found at www.seannos.org. What would a festival be without festivities?! SNNW 2026 kicks off on Thursday, May 14, at our free monthly Oíche na n-Amhrán | Night of Songs event hosted by Kevin Grgurich at T. C. O’Leary’s Pub in the Alberta Arts District of Northeast Portland. Come catch our festival guests as they share their party pieces in this intimate pub that has quickly become the unofficial Irish Center of Portland — time to dust off your own party pieces, too! Limber yourself up at our Community Céilí Mór, a social dance, on Friday, May 15, at the Historic Alberta House (ticket required). Don’t know how to dance? We have you covered! Maldon and Alicia will lead us through the figures, with live music from our community youth musicians who’ve been preparing for this event for months. We’re so excited to see their progress. The dancing continues Saturday, May 16th, at Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub near Portland’s downtown Southwest Riverfront. Don’t miss out on this free festival favorite - The Half-door and Barrel-dancing Exhibition! Come, watch dancers show off their steps (confined to either a barrel top or a half door) inspired by the lively music of our musical guests Seán and Colin. Music session and singing to follow! We close out the festival on Sunday, May 17 at another free event back at O’Leary’s with The Big Sing, a (mostly) singing session that brings attendees back down to earth in preparation for the workday come Monday. And how could we forget?! NEW this year is our children’s program, Mol an Óige. Inspired by another Irish proverb Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí—praise the youth, and they will flourish—this program encourages children ages 5-12 to connect with their Irish-rooted American identity through story, song, dance, and playful language activities. Educational specialist Hope Hutsell presents this program alongside the SNNW adult program supported by classroom visits by our festival guests, so parents can enjoy the festival as much as their kids! Mol an Óige has been generously supported by the Government of Ireland’s Emigrant Support Programme with additional financial support from the Mícheál Ó Domhnaill Branch of Oregon (CCÉ). So PLEASE join us at this year’s Sean-nós Northwest festival, share this information with your network, and support our programming through donations to ICSPNW! Bígí linn a chairde!

Event Links

Inquiries: https://go.evvnt.com/3610300-0

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