Valerie Caine's blog

This year's final for the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, a key highlight of the folk music calendar, will be presented by BBC Radio 2 presenter Mark Radcliffe and multi-award winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, at the prestigious Belfast Waterfront on the 4th April, with a number of Manx musicians competing for success in several categories.

Here on the Isle of Man, the annual Shennaghys Jiu festival will be celebrating its twenty first anniversary (30th March - 2nd April). Predominantly based in Ramsey (with a special concert in Peel on Sunday afternoon), organisers are planning to highlight a wide range of local talent in conjunction with a continuous development of the festival atmosphere.

The Get Creative Festival (https://getcreativeuk.com/) 17th to 25th March, aims to shine a light on all the fantastic cultural activity which takes place across Britain, encouraging everyone to have a go at something new and imaginative.

During the festival, the Isle of Man Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild will be holding a Celebrate Stitch Day from 10.00am until 4.00 pm on Saturday 24th March at St Andrew’s Hall, St Ninian’s, Douglas.

There was a feverish, expectant ripple amongst the audience at the Centenary Centre as they awaited the phenomenally talented band Holy Moly and the Crackers, but before this everyone was thoroughly entertained by local singer/songwriter Rhiannon Jade. Her soulful rendition of original compositions (except for a Bob Dylan piece) revealed a new name to watch in the future, with a powerful projection and excellent diction reverberating around the recently decorated entertainment centre, which fell silent in tribute to her undoubted talent.

Welsh folk super group ALAW (melody in the Welsh language) will shortly be making their debut concert on the Isle of Man at the Centenary Centre in Peel next month.

This inspiring trio, which draws particularly on their Celtic heritage, is originally from South Wales, and brings together three exceptionally talented musicians; namely Oliver Wilson-Dickson, Dylan Fowler and Jamie Smith.

Despite plummeting temperatures, a good number of people braved the elements to visit Dalby House to see a wonderful display of snowdrops, which bloomed in abundance along the driveway and at the rear of the house, where they were more sheltered from the bitter, winter gales. A limited supply of potted snowdrops were also for sale but rapidly purchased by early visitors to the event.

This year’s Reih Bleeaney Vanannan (Manannan’s Choice of the Year) has been awarded by Culture Vannin to local man Phil Kelly, recognising almost fifty years of work in teaching, promoting, publishing and developing online resources for the Manx language by one of the cultural community’s most unassuming leaders.

Continuing an historical, family legacy can be viewed by those lingering around the outside of the circle as labouring, challenging, or even unnecessary, but Dr Helen Pankhurst carries her public mantle with a quiet, but dignified determination.

With the commemoration of women in Britain securing the vote dominating news coverage today, it's also an opportunity to explore the lives of the women who fought for democracy, but a Manx link with the powerful Emmeline Pankhurst may hold the key to her personal vision for women's suffrage.

The annual Oie'll Verree, which can still be found in a number of rural settings, takes the form of a concert and remains at the forefront of Manx life as a community event, but the occasion at Kirk Michael was tinged with sadness after the news of the sudden death of Roy Kennaugh, who was one of its most dedicated proponents and organisers.