DERRY city was bustling yesterday as the 2013 Fleadh Cheoil got under way with a colourful cavalcade of live music and performance.
It is the first time the All-Ireland Fleadh, the biggest festival of traditional Irish music in the world, has been staged in the north.
The eight day event is expected to attract around 300,000 people to Derry between now and August 18.
The 62nd All-Ireland Fleadh got off to a promising start yesterday afternoon as thousands took to the streets of the UK City Of Culture 2013 to see the opening events.
Thousands lined the banks of the Foyle at 3pm as a convoy of traditional boats made their way through the Foyle to Guildhall Square - the epicentre of Fleadh Cheoil 2013.
The procession featured vessels from the Basque country and traditional currachs from all over Ireland, including the Colmcille Currach, which played a major role in the recent Return of Colmcille festival in the city.
At 3.30pm, groups from across Derry and further afield formed a 'Fleadh pageant', which moved through the city to Guildhall Square where traditional Irish music act Sontas entertained the crowds at an outdoor concert, along with a supporting bill of traditional bands, singers and dancers.
This was all part of the build up to the main event of the official opening ceremony at 5pm, when the patron of the festival, President Michael D Higgins, was on hand to declare the Fleadh Cheoil under way.
"The Fleadh Cheoil is a key moment in the Irish cultural calendar," he told the crowds at Guildhall Square.
"It is an occasion which allows us to celebrate the very best of Irish music, song and dance in all their diversity."
President Higgins also highlighted the importance of Derry hosting the Fleadh for the first time.
"It marks the strengthening of ties across a land boundary that was, for so many years, synonymous with distrust and differing historical perspectives that divided communities, families and societies for many years," he said.
"Derry-Londonderry has borne more than its fair share of the burden of a divisive past. In recent years it has transcended this past by rebuilding, renewing and reimagining the Maiden City.
"It has risen to the challenge of freeing itself from the burden of a divisive history - and has done so by working to create a new and vibrant society."
The Fleadh is set to feature around 20,000 musicians, including exclusive collaborations and performances from The Poet and The Piper (Seamus Heaney and Liam O'Flynn ), Cara Dillon and the Orchestra of Ireland, Dervish, Flook, Lorcan Mac Mathuna and dance spectacular Take The Floor featuring Beoga.
Commenting on the opening day of the event Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin said it was "a major coup for the City of Culture to host the largest celebration of Irish traditional music in the world".
"In churches, halls and squares, all across the city, music will echo from dawn to dusk. I am particularly looking forward to The Poet and the Piper - an exclusive performance of two of the country's finest, Derry's own Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney taking the stage with iconic uilleann piper Liam O'Flynn for a wonderful evening of poetry and music."
n ALL THE FUN OF THE FLEADH: Clockwise from main, crowds gather in Derry's Guildhall Square to see the opening of this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann; some of the colourful characters from the opening procession; Michael Gillespie from Sontas entertains the crowds; other members of the band on stage; young and old enjoy the festivities; Curraghs arrive up the River Foyle for the opening ceremony; President Michael D Higgins enjoys the evening
PICTURES: Margaret McLaughlin