They could have called it the “Brittingham’s Session Orchestra.” More than 15 Irish musicians crowded into the Lafayette Hill pub’s event space to provide music for the dancers who managed to find a few square feet in which to do their thing.
Alex Weir
And they were all there for a good cause. The event, which included a brunch, raffle, and 50-50, was organized by fiddler (Belfast Connection) Laine Walker Hughes, to raise money to help defray expenses for the families of Alex Weir, 12, and Keegan Loesel, 11, who are traveling to Ireland this month to compete in the All-Irelands, the Olympics of Irish music.
This is Alex’s second and Keegan’s first trip to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which draws regional competition winners from all over the world, this year to Cavan Town. To qualify, musicians must come in first or second in the regionals.
The boys have been raising money on their own by busking—that time-honored Irish tradition of playing on the street for donations. In fact, two fellow buskers—teenagers Michael and Eamon Durkan of Wilmington, DE—came to participate in the fundraiser. They met, well, on the street. “We played with them,” said Eamon Durkan. “They’re really incredible players. We came to support them.”
As you’ll see from our photos, so did many others.
Read more about the boys here.
