Event  Moving To Seaside Park—

MorganEve Swain Is Returning

ToThe Fairfield Irish Festival

BRIDGEPORT — The 16th Annual Fairfield Irish Festival moves to Seaside Park this coming weekend. Among the musicians returning to the festival is MorganEve Swain, 18, of Newtown who, at the festival one year ago, accompanied Irish singer-guitarist Liz McNicholl for the first time.

That event launched an association with a talented group of musicians MorganEve has been playing with ever since. Just about every weekend, and some weeknights too, Miss Swain has been playing gigs in pubs from Fairfield to Guilford, and sometimes New York City. It’s been an incredible experience that has highlighted an ambitious senior year for the young fiddler of the bands Once Removed, Stealin’ Back, Liz McNicholl and Friends, The Irish Band, and Cinnamon Sky.

The bands play old and new acoustic bluegrass, blues, Celtic, American folk, rock and jazz. For Miss Swain, that’s a natural combination of most of the music that influences her confident fiddling style.

She started playing violin at age three with the Suzuki method that teaches young children how to play an instrument by ear before learning theory. She credits Suzuki for her ability to improvise as a fiddler for the bands she plays with now, and for helping her teach a handful of young, aspiring fiddlers in her home.

She has studied classical violin for over ten years, but claims that her recent solo performance for the Newtown High School Orchestra may be her last classical one. She is more interested in expanding her fiddling repertoire that is laced with the exciting trills of Celtic music she discovered during her summers in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Canada. She will be studying with several renowned Canadian fiddlers in Cape Breton this summer. 

Miss Swain will be attending Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., this fall, not too far away to continue gigging on weekends.

Miss Swain will be performing at the Fairfield Irish Festival on Saturday, June 14. She will be performing with Liz McNicholl and Friends from 3 to 6 pm and then with Once Removed from 8:30 to 10:30 pm at the Pub Tent.

The Fairfield Irish Festival is a family celebration of Irish music, art and culture. It was established by members of The Gaelic American Club of Fairfield to showcase their Irish heritage, and is presented by Feile, Inc., a Fairfield-based charity devoted to the promotion of Irish culture.

The festival is moving this year to Seaside Park in Bridgeport, and will open each day with the performance of the Irish and American national anthems. Festival hours are from 6 to 11 pm on Friday, noon to 11 pm Saturday, and noon to 6 pm Sunday.

Admission is $10 per day for adults, $8 for high school or college students, and a limited number of three-day passes are available for $15. Children under age 16  are free.

Headlining this year’s festival will be The Saw Doctors, who will be performing on Sunday afternoon at 4pm.

In addition to all the Irish music the festival will offer children’s and cultural events, contests and raffles, vendors, and plenty of food.

Festival information is available from 203-333-4736 or 203-576-1420, or at                                 www.IrishFestival.org.