Ireland’s longest-running dance music festival Celtronic to “come to an end”
Ireland’s longest-running dance music festival, Celtronic, is set to “come to an end” next month after 25 years.
The Derry-based festival, first launched in 2001, revealed the news on Instagram yesterday, March 6, writing: “All good raves must come to an end”.
Celtronic explained that “while there is no doubt that the festival could continue to thrive for many more years, the 25th anniversary milestone feels like the perfect time to bring this chapter of Celtronic to a close”.
Festival owners said they wanted to bring Celtronic to an end “on our own terms”, going out “on a high”. No other specific reason was cited for its closure.
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Launched in 2001 by “two very skint friends”, Celtronic has gone ahead annually across multiple venues in Derry, bringing international dance music acts to the city.
Talking to the BBC, co-founder Gareth Stewart explained that Celtronic became a place to platform local talent, and “prove that you can be from Derry and have a career in electronic music”.
“We had the notion to hold a festival in Derry that would not be driven by money or profit, but by a passion for celebrating dance music culture, our city, and the energy of our young people,” the post reads.
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“25 years later, the ethos of Celtronic remains the same. We have welcomed our musical heroes and the biggest, most relevant electronic music artists from across the globe to share stages in almost every venue in Derry with the best local and national artists.”
During its tenure, Celtronic has hosted artists including Sama’ Abdulhadi, Dave Clarke, Mano Le Tough, Laurent Garnier, Nile Rodgers, and many more.
The final edition of Celtronic will go ahead next month from April 17 – 20, hosted across multiple venues. Grab your tickets here, and read Celtronic’s post below.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter
