Editor

The Craic Festival is the premier Irish film and music festival in the U.S. since 1999. The film series (Best of New Irish Cinema) is booked for Tribeca Cinemas and the music for the Mercury Lounge. Stella Artois will be presenting the festival.

Bands to perform live at this year’s Festival include: Julie Feeney, Pat McGuire, The Shackles (Colin Smith) and The Narrowbacks. Julie Feeney, who has taken NYC by storm this past year, will headline March 7^th. One show only this year will take place at the Mercury Lounge. Doors 8pm at Mercury Lounge.

So what about film? “The Craic is going back to its roots and focusing on short filmmakers at the Kids Fleadh and a spotlight on documentaries this year. Audiences will be delighted with this year’s picks including: the March 5^th opening night film and U.S. premier of Tee to Green, starring Aidan Quinn as the narrator on a documentary about the history of Golf in Ireland. Opening gala is Co-sponsored by Tourism Ireland.  March 6^th is the U.S premier of ROAD (Narrated by Oscar Winner Liam Neeson) Road is a powerful story about the Dunlop racing dynasty in Ireland. Q&A to follow the screening. Closing night March 7th is a Best of Animation/Retrospective of Brown Bag Films (two Oscar nominated short in the program are Granny O’Grimm and Give Up Yer Aul Sins). ”The Craic is back with another strong eclectic lineup of Irish Cinema” Terrence Mulligan, CEO and founder of The Craic Fest. (All gala films March 5-7 start @ 7:30pm @ Tribeca Cinema)

The Craic will also feature the Kids Fleadh, which is moving this year to Tribeca Cnemas 54 Varick St.. Kids Fleadh takes place on the closing day of the Festival, Saturday March 7^th (10:30am-1:00pm). Kids Fleadh will present a special program of family-friendly short films, step dancing and story telling suitable for kids of all ages. John Liam Shea, author of Cut and Run in the Bronx, and Honor Molloy, author of Smarty Girl, will be narrating our children’s stories. Free tea and scones will be provided as well!

It’s all part of the Craic. The Craic Festival presents three days of Irish film and music, and takes place between March 5^th and 7^th at Tribeca Cinemas (film) and Mercury Lounge (music). Check out the full line-up on www.thecraicfest.com!