Celebrating 20 years of the Cáceres Irish Fleadh

If you happen to find yourself in Cáceres, three and a half hours by rail from Madrid, in late September, you might be intrigued to see musicians carrying Irish instruments of all shapes and sizes making their way towards the town centre.

As you approach the Plaza Mayor to explore the cobbled city streets and their mix of Roman, Moorish, Gothic and Jewish influences, you might do a double take when you encounter the beat of the bodhrán, the trill of the tin whistle and the tapping of 15,000 feet at the Cáceres Irish Fleadh.

A medieval walled city founded by the Romans in 25BC and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site might, at first, seem like an unusual location for an Irish hooley but as the festivities unfold you will soon come to understand why even the local taxi drivers call the Fleadh the best weekend of the year.

The Cáceres Irish Fleadh, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024, has its origins in a local music group playing tunes in a tavern, explains Fernanda Valdés, founding member of the Fleadh. They looked to Ireland as they were hoping to expand their repertoire, and invited Uileann Piper, John McSherry, to the medieval city in western Spain.

The first year, they performed a series of small concerts in the Gran Teatro and little by little, over the past two decades, the operation grew as the “craic agus ceol” [fun and music] spilled out onto the many squares around the city.

With the growth of the festival, more support was needed. Peter Crann, now the Fleadh Programmer, described how Fernanda approached him to assist with getting artists from Ireland on board. She approached him sixteen years ago at a small world music festival in Seville, and even though they had only just met, he recognised Fernanda’s passion for the project and said yes immediately.

Patricia Bravo, the Fleadh Director, is another stalwart of the Fleadh’s success. When she was asked to take on the Director role, the first thing she did was travel to Ireland for a year and a half to undertake a masterclass in Irish music, culture, and even language.

She brought back her experience to enrich the Fleadh, explaining: “In Cáceres, what we want is to maintain the essence of Ireland, and ensure that the sessions are as close as possible to the real thing, with traditional Irish instruments.”

This year’s programme, the 20th anniversary edition, featured three full days of Irish cultural immersion, with large-scale concerts welcoming top Irish acts such as Kila and Buioch, as well as local talent from Extremadura, Andalucia, Galicia, and more.

The city’s Gran Teatro hosted individual masterclasses, after which there were two slow sessions that ensured musicians of all abilities could take part. For those with itchy feet, there were dance classes, an open air céilí [communal Irish dance gathering], exhibition matches and GAA workshops as well as a “poc fada” [long puck] hurling competition.

The Fleadh has undoubtedly served as a way of cementing ties between Cáceres and Ireland and the focus is very much on continuing that connection.

When asked about the next 20 years, an ambitious Patricia says: “To the next 30, you mean! We are full of hope and have the drive and crew to make it happen, all we need is for the institutions to come together and continue their support for the future.”

By the final day of the festival, the team behind the Fleadh are already planning ahead for the next year. They usually visit Ireland three to four times a year, with a stop in Dublin to check out larger bands before heading to smaller towns to scout for native talent in the more rural parts of the country. This allows them to maintain the grassroots essence of the Fleadh, which is a priority for them.

“The Fleadh is a gift; it’s a lot of work, but it is a very special gift. Life can bring you down many different roads, and the road I´m following with the Fleadh has allowed me to make wonderful connections in Ireland and all over the world,” says Valdés.

Find more information and updates on the Cáceres Irish Fleadh on their website and Instagram.