Three gifts from a safe harbour
With the biennial Sounds From a Safe Harbour (SFSH) festival set to return next autumn, organisers have shared three major announcements to keep Leeside captivated in the meantime.
First up is a very special short film marking the second anniversary of the passing of beloved Cork musician Eoin French AKA Talos, who was a grounding force behind the festival.
‘The Dreams are Ours to Keep’ offers a behind-the-scenes peek at the artists’ residency at the heart of the festival's 2023 edition. It follows the making of ‘We Didn't Know We Were Ready’, composed by Icelandic producer Ólafur Arnalds, and Cork artists Talos, Niamh Regan, and Ye Vagabonds.
First performed in the lobby of The River Lee Hotel, the song journeyed from there to the festival finale hosted by Ye Vagabonds at Cork Opera House, and onwards to national television on 'The Tommy Tiernan Show', and beyond.
Reflecting on the residency and the making of the song, Festival Director Mary Hickson said that at the time, she and her colleagues had no idea how precious that week would become, or how little time they would have with Eoin.
She said: “The song was written about the experience of creating together - about being present in that moment, in that room, with those people - but since Eoin’s passing, the words have taken on a new depth of meaning. It’s a reminder of the extraordinary comfort music can bring us, and of the lasting connection created through moments of shared creativity.”
Sirens tour
The second announcement from SFSH is the Sirens tour, a live music project hosted by Lisa Hannigan, bringing together a changing ensemble of artists from Ireland and around the world.
Running throughout autumn, the tour will feature Amanda Bergman, Kate Stables, Angie McMahon, Loah, Anna Mieke, The Staves, Amano de Londra Miura, Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, Lasairfhíona Ní Chonaola and more, with the line-up varying at each location.
Sirens was first developed during the SFSH 2025 residency and made its acclaimed debut at St Anne’s Church in Cork city. This year, the project expands into an international tour, travelling from Inis Oírr and across Ireland to Cardiff, Berlin, London, and San Sebastián.
Tickets are on sale now. Visit soundsfromasafeharbour.com for more details.
A festival first
Finally, SFSH has announced its first-ever vinyl release ‘SFSH25 Mixtape’, a single LP capturing highlights from Mixtape, the sold-out orchestral performance staged during the 2025 festival. The record brings together a remarkable line-up of international artists performing newly arranged versions of their work with a full concert orchestra and choir, recorded live at Cork Opera House. The result is a one-off document of Cork's SFSH spirit: intimate songwriting rebuilt at orchestral scale, performed once, in one room, and now pressed to wax for the first time in the festival's history.
‘SFSH25 Mixtape’ will be released exclusively on vinyl on 24 September via Anthem Vinyl. To pre-order, visit anthemvinyl.com.