{"id":22605,"date":"2024-04-08T16:57:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T15:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=22605"},"modified":"2024-04-08T16:57:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T15:57:58","slug":"the-countdown-is-on-to-ards-international-guitar-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2024\/04\/the-countdown-is-on-to-ards-international-guitar-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"The Countdown is on to Ards International Guitar Festival!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ards International Guitar Festival arrives in Newtownards next week with a fantastic line-up celebrating local and international guitar talent. Featuring everything from classical to rock, the programme promises something for every musical taste. Hosted by Ards and North Down Borough Council, the festival runs from Wednesday 17 \u2013 Sunday 21 April.<\/h4>\n

\"\"Highlights on this year\u2019s programme include the brilliant Martin Harley<\/em> who has been making music and touring the world for almost 30 years. His down to earth sound explores roots, blues and slide guitar in a style The Guardian referred to as \u2018spellbinding.\u2019 Harley has released nine albums to date, four recorded on home soil and four across the Atlantic, in Texas and Nashville. Martin will take to the stage in The Queen\u2019s Hall, Newtownards on Friday 19 April with support from Matt McGinn<\/em> and Matt Curran.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the UK\u2019s leading classical guitarists Manus Noble,<\/em> will perform his show \u2018A Bard\u2019s Tale\u2019 at Ards Arts Centre on Friday 19 April. Known for his unique sounds, original compositions and varied programmes, Noble has performed at some of the UK\u2019s leading venues such as Wigmore Hall, King\u2019s Hall and Royal Festival Hall. \u2018A Bard\u2019s Tale\u2019 takes the audience on a journey across time and continent with music performed on guitar, Irish bouzouki, handspan, shruti box and voice.<\/p>\n

The festival is delighted to welcome back previous Lifetime Achievement Award Winner (2017) Sarah McQuaid<\/em>, whose chocolatey voice combines with her engaging personality, \u201csubtle mastery onstage\u201d (Huffington Post<\/em>) and \u201cbrilliant musicianship\u201d (fRoots<\/em>). Performing on acoustic and electric guitars, piano and (occasionally) drum, McQuaid\u2019s performances create a truly immersive experience.\u00a0McQuaid will be appearing at Ards Arts Centre on Sunday 21 April, supported by Martha Greer.<\/p>\n

Other highlights of this year\u2019s programme include; the Comedy Classic Soundtracks with Paul McMordie<\/em> and Bill Campbell<\/em>, Tony Villiers and The Villains<\/em> at The Ivy Bar and Pictures in Rock, an exhibition of curated photographs by music photographer Keery Irvine<\/em> at Ards Arts Centre.<\/p>\n

Speaking about the festival, Ards Guitar Festival Director, Emily Crawford commented:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are tuning up for a fantastic few days of live guitar music in Ards next week. There\u2019s real Blues vibe running through this year\u2019s festival and an opportunity to hear international acts like Martin Harley and Sarah McQuaid right on your doorstep. We have something to appeal to every taste.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

For ticket details or to view the full programme please visit: www.ardsguitarfestival.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0 or alternatively call Ards Arts Centre on 028 9181 0803<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ards International Guitar Festival arrives in Newtownards next week with a fantastic line-up celebrating local and international guitar talent. Featuring everything from classical to rock, the programme promises something for every musical taste. Hosted by Ards and North Down Borough Council, the festival runs from Wednesday 17 \u2013 Sunday 21 April. Highlights on this … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22607,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22605\/revisions\/22607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}