The Celtic Heart Festival 2007

The Riverside Studios and Hammersmith Irish Centre are jointly hosting the Celtic Heart Festival of Irish music, film and art this month. The festival features some of Ireland’s best traditional musicians and bands, films from the 60s to the present and exhibitions. Here’s the lineup for the festival.

11 April-5 May Hobo An exhibition of still photographs from the film Hobo from the personal archives of Irish filmmaker John T. Davis. On at the Riverside Studios, 10am-10.30pm daily, admission is free.

12 April Four Men and a Dog A band blending high-energy Irish ‘trad’ with Southern rock, rap, jazz, blues, bluegrass, polka, country, swing supported by Rudelle an a girl traditional Irish group. Studio 2 at the Riverside Studios, the show starts at 8.15pm with tickets costing £15.

13 April Rebel County and The Wind that Shakes the Barley double bill. Rebel County is a 2006 documentary looking at the Irish war of independence, starts at 6.45pm. The Wind that Shakes the Barley is Ken Loach’s 2006 feature film about Irish volunteers fighting the Black and Tans in the 1920s. Ken Loach is due to be present at the 8pm start. Tickets for the double bill are £6.50 at the Riverside Studios.

13 April Finbar Furey One of Ireland’s best singer, songwriter, composers performs at the Riverside Studios with support from five piece group The Mullin Family. Show starts at 8.15pm in Studio 2, tickets £15.

14 April Fiddles, Sticks, Buttons and Bows Members of the Mulkere Academy of Irish Music, aged 7-18, play traditional Irish music. On at Riverside Studio 2 at 3pm, tickets are £5.

14 April 48 Angels A 2005 feature about a young on a journey to find a cure for a serious illness. Starts at 3.30pm at the Riverside Studios, tickets £6.50.

14 April Borstal Boy An film adaption from 2000 of Brendan Behan’s story of a young Irish boy imprisoned in Liverpool during World War Two. Begins at 6pm, tickets £6.50.

14 April Altan One of Ireland’s top traditional bands play the Riverside Studios and are supported by flute and whistle player Hayley Dolan. Show starts at 8.15pm, tickets £15.

14 April Shellshock Rock A film documenting the punk and new wave scene in late 70s Northern Ireland with performances by bands such as The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers. Starts at 8.30pm, tickets £6.50.

15 April The Irishmen:An Impression of Exile and I Only Came for a Couple of Years double bill. Two documentary films looking at the Irish immigrant experience in Britain. The Irishmen is a 1966 film that follows a young man from Connemara to London, I Only Came for a Couple of Years is a 2003 film that uses interviews with Irish people who emigrated to London between the 1930s and 1960s. The double bill starts at 12 noon and tickets are £6.50.

15 April Rocky Road to Dublin and The Making of Rocky Road double bill. Rocky Road to Dublin was a controversial 1968 documentary that’s been restored, about the relationship of the church, politics and state in 60s Ireland. The double bill begins at 3pm and tickets are £6.50.

15 April Hobo Irish film-maker John T. Davis spent three months living and travelling as a hobo across America in the early 1990s, filming as he went. The film starts at 6pm with tickets £6.50.

15 April Middletown A 2006 feature film about a priest returning to his small Ulster home village. 8pm and tickets £6.50.

20 April The Dublin City Working Man’s Band This Dublin band have headlined the London St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square twice before and now play the Hammersmith Irish Centre with support from singer-songwriter Niall Kelly. The show starts at 8.15pm and tickets are £15.

21 April Sharon Shannon The ‘Queen of The Squeeze Box’ plays with her band The Woodchoppers at the Hammersmith Irish Centre along with special surprise guests. Begins at 8.15pm and tickets cost £15.

21 April Shorts A series of Irish short films being screened at the Hammersmith Irish Centre.