Your Roots Are Showing Wraps Fourth Annual Conference

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Photo: Colin Gillen

Your Roots Are Showing, Ireland’s folk and roots music conference, has wrapped its fourth annual event.

Across six days more than 1,500 delegates including artists, industry leaders, broadcasters, journalists, academics and cultural organizers from across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Canada, and the United States passed through ICC Belfast. The event featured multiple stages, panels, late-night sessions and 105 showcases.

A standout moment included the landmark Opry 100: A Century of the Grand Ole Opry panel, attended by Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Tracy Kelly. The session highlighted Belfast’s status as a UNESCO City of Music and its cultural ties with Nashville, with the two cities officially recognised as sister cities through their shared heritage of songwriting, storytelling and live music.

The program featured a large lineup of showcase artists spanning folk, roots, traditional and Americana, including Wallis Bird, Amy Grant, Rissi Palmer, Ron Block, David Keenan, Clare Sands, Wyatt Ellis, Jim Lauderdale, Jessica Willis Fisher, Moxie, Ollee Owens, Liam Ó Maonlaí and Kenny Sharp, among others.

“What happened in Belfast this week was genuinely special,” shares, Charlene Sloan, YRAS co-founder with Brendan McCreanor. “Having over a thousand delegates move through ICC Belfast is one thing, but the quality of the conversations, the generosity of spirit and the love for the music is what really defines this conference. We were incredibly supported by BBC, RTÉ, Downtown Radio and Cool FM, who supported the artists and the industry. On the U.S. side, seeing engagement and on-site presence from top tier media outlets from the U.S., the UK, Ireland and beyond, speaks volumes about Belfast’s growing international standing. This week reminded us that folk and roots music is not niche. It is a living, global culture, and Belfast continues to prove it belongs at the heart of that conversation.”

Dates, registration and sponsorship information for Your Roots Are Showing 2027 will be announced at a later date.

Photo: Colin Gillen

Photo: Colin Gillen

Photo: Colin Gillen

Lauryn Sink
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