Mission Statement

Since its foundation in 2005, Sligo Live has sought to develop a world-renowned Irish music festival, celebrating Sligo’s rich musical tradition, increasing the county’s positive profile and benefiting its economy through attracting large numbers of discerning visitors.

Vision

County Sligo has a strong musical heritage stretching back to the fiddle masters, Coleman, Morrison, Killoran, through Joe O’Dowd, Fred Finn, Peter Horan, Seamus Tansey, The McLynns, Pumpkinhead, Midnight Well, to Kevin Burke, Dervish, Seamus and Manus Maguire and the wealth of young and established musicians currently performing around Sligo, national and international venues.

Sligo Live is building on this invaluable profile through hosting a successful national festival celebrating traditional, acoustic and compatible music. The description ‘roots and branches’ neatly encapsulates the musical vision behind the festival.

The distinctive Sligo music style is renowned worldwide for its ‘lift’ – a traditional term to describe the uplifting spirit it conveys. The musical programme presented in Sligo Live, while diverse, reflects the verve, authenticity and quality of Sligo’s music.

Sligo Live highlights a lineage commencing with Sligo Sounds 71, Ireland’s first major outdoor festival, The Ballisodare festivals of the late 70’s and early 80’s and the All Ireland Fleadh Ceol and Arts Festivals of the late 80’s and 90’s.

Sligo Live will become, in time, a major event on the world music circuit. In order to reach this goal and create maximum impact a highly professional organisation has been set up. A number of high-profile Sligo individuals with strong music, business, technical and marketing expertise make up the management board.