Craw Festival Is An Irish Session With An Agenda

In Ireland, if you have something stuck in your craw, you’re pissed off. And right now, Irish Berliners have every right to be. They’ve been forced to leave Ireland to find work, affordable housing and artistic freedom, and they’re harbouring considerable resentment and disappointment toward the emerald isle.

Of course, it’s best to channel such negative energy into something productive, and this is exactly what this collective of musicians and artists from have done. Craw Festival, a brand new free festival, brings together the best of Irish talent in Berlin for a big party.

Craw Festival Takes Place From 22nd to 24th June at Neukölln’s Kultstätte KELLER

Craw Festival has caused quite a stir back home in Ireland, reiginiting debates around key issues that have forced Irish people to leave the country. Craw co-organiser Candice Gordon noted in the Irish Times how ‘suffocated‘ she felt in Ireland whilst fellow co-organiser Dee Mulrooney told of how she felt forced out of Dublin by rising rents. The festival they’ve together alongside a whole host of other creatives in Berlin serves to demonstrate exactly what Ireland is missing out on – the vast wealth of Irish talent living in this city.

Alongside a wide range of performances from Berliners including Candice Gordon, A.S. Fanning, Nina Hynes and TAU, the festival is also bringing in artists and creatives from Ireland including garage punks Fontaines D.C. and documentary filmmaker John Connors. Over the weekend there’ll be a traditional Irish ‘lock-in’ music session, a Sunday wake to mark the death of ‘old Ireland’ and even a confessional box.

There’s also a special performance from Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey, the only ticketed event of the festival (get your tickets here).

Berlin Loves You’s Craw Music Tips

Don’t miss performances from the following acts at Craw.

Nina Hynes

Dream-pop songwriter Nina Hynes has been roadtesting an excellent batch of new songs around Berlin’s venues recently. Expect an enchanting and epic performance at Craw.

A.S. Fanning

Moody alt-folk musician A.S. Fanning is currently surfing a wave of creativity and is already working on the follow-up to his excellent debut Second Life. He recently assembled an eclectic mix of Berliners to perform an intimate version of his song ‘Louis Armstrong’, which you can watch above.

Candice Gordon

Rock-noir musician Candice Gordon mixes P.J Harvey-esque vocal histrionics with dark, exploratory songs tackling a wide range of subjects and feelings.

Fontaines D.C.

Don’t take our word for it – take the word of Bristol buzzband Idles, who told the huge crowd assembled at Primavera Sound to check out Dublin-based garage rockers Fontaines D.C.

Craw Festival on Facebook.