Celebratory festival returns to Cork
A stellar line-up has been announced for a major three day festival taking part in Cork city this February.
Presented by Cork Opera House and Coughlans Live, the return of the Right Here, Right Now Festival takes place from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 February. The festival celebrates the vibrant and growing music scene in Cork.
The opening night of the festival will feature performance by explosive ten-piece funk-pop band Toucan. Blasting out a blend of feel-good, contagiously funky hits, Toucan take to the stage in Cyprus Avenue on Friday 21 February at 7.30pm.
Also performing on the opening night of the festival is Marlene Enright. Capturing the attention of Irish media in 2017 with the release of her debut record ‘Placemats and Second Cuts’, the album was nominated for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize award. Marlene takes to the stage at Coughlan’s Live on Friday 21 February at 9.30pm.
The highlight of this year’s festival will be a performance by Mick Flannery and Valerie June, accompanied by the Cork Opera House Orchestra on Saturday 22 February in Cork Opera House at 8pm. The double-platinum selling Mick Flannery released his sixth album in 2019, and also premiered a musical named after his 2007 album ‘Evening Train’. Joining him is Memphis Tennessee native, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Valerie June. Known for her spectacular vocals, this is a collaborative performance not to be missed.
The festival also sees Junior Brother return to Cork, performing two gigs in Coughlan’s Live on Saturday 22 at 4pm, and Sunday 23 at 4pm. Born outside Killarney, Ronan Kealy AKA Junior Brother, developed a strong love of music from an early age, writing his first song at nine. His Junior Brother moniker came from a character in the Jacobean play 'The Revengers Tragedy', a work Kealy studied while at UCC.
Sunday 23 will also feature An Evening of Traditional Folk Music at Cork Opera House, including performances by Donal Lunny, Martin O'Connor, Nell Ni Chroinin and Strung.
Beginning at 8pm, and featuring a host of local, national and international traditional and folk singers and musicians, it will be a must-see for trad fans.
Arborist will close the festival with a performance in Coughlans Live on Sunday 23 at 8pm. The band came to the attention of critics with their 2015 debut single, the Americana-tinged ‘Twisted Arrow’, featuring an astonishing duet with Kim Deal of The Breeders. Their 2016 debut album, ‘Home Burial’, was nominated for the Northern Irish Music Prize and released to critical acclaim.
Tickets for the respective gigs are available from cyprusavenue.ie, coughlans.ie, and corkoperahouse.ie.