Stellar line up announced for Stendhal Festival 2021

The annual festival is being split into a two part event this year, after it was unable to porceed in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The first part of the line-up for the triumphant return of the festival in July has been announced.

It features a stellar cast of talent, which covers a multitude of genres, who will take to several stages at Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady.

Headlining the event on Saturday, July 10 are Beoga, a hugely popular contemporary Irish Trad band who played a key role in some of Ed Sheeran’s most recent successes, including tracks like Galway Girl and Nancy Mulligan.

With an adventurous spirit and a passion for charting the road less travelled, Beoga have shown that Irish traditional music can take fresh new directions.

The quintet are constantly evolving and have proved that new audiences are eager to embrace the genre’s life-affirming energy.

LYRA, who will be making her Stendhal debut this year when she headlines on Friday, July 9, is a perfect blend of dark electronic pop, punctuated by a stunning vocal power that must be experienced live.

LYRA’s creativity manifests itself in songs, stories and art. Part vintage, part contemporary, she exudes a sense of being free from the constraints of time and era.

Joining them on the bill are Kíla, another seminal Irish Traditional act that features a strong percussive like singing and gorgeous melodies driven by a serious rhythmical undercurrent.

General Fiasco, Ciaran Lavery, ROE, Jealous of the birds, Joshua Burnside and Cormac Neeson head up an always amazing selection of home grown, Northern Irish acts.

With over 50 acts in total eventually completing the line up, there will be a little something for everyone’s musical sensibilities at Stendhal’s July event this year.

Festival Director Ross Parkhill said: “We’ve been waiting to get back up to the farm for a long, long time now and this line up of home grown and Irish talent only makes that prospect all the more tantalizing.

“Beoga and LYRA are both phenomenal live acts and we are so pleased that they will be making their Stendhal debuts in July. Kíla are friends of the festival and have never put on anything but a must see show.”

He added: “Of course we have a huge selection of the very best Northern Irish acts as usual, covering loads of genres as usual and we expect that the bands and musicians are keen to make their return to a festival stage as memorable an occasion as possible.

“We have loads more to announce in terms of the line-up, more music, our family programme, comedy programme, poetry and arts line-ups are still to come.”

At present mass gatherings are still prohibited but as restrictions are starting to ease, Ross says he remains confident that Stendhal will be given the green light to proceed this year following frustrating attempts to proceed in 2020.

Ross said: “We remain confident, now that the timetables for reopening across Northern Ireland have become clearer. Once beer gardens and hotels open up, we believe that camping and entertainment fields should be a very natural next step, particularly now that discussions regarding pilot events will be opening up at Stormont, hopefully within days.”

Just a few of the other acts announced include Reevah, Ports, Paddy Nash, Bakken, Matt McGinn, Cherym and Teknopeasant.

Tickets for the July and August edition’s of Stendhal Festival are on sale now, but are severely limited this year due to ongoing covid restrictions.

For tickets and more information visit Stendhalfestival.com