Shennaghys Jiu turns 20 years old this year, and has unveiled a packed line up of its favourite artists to help celebrate its birthday.

Kicking off from Friday, April 7, the festival, which translates as ’Tradition Today’, was created to introduce young Manx musicians to other groups of musicians and the many, varied styles of Gaelic music.

Galician duo Antó* Davila and Xosé Liz will make a long awaited return to the island, having wowed the crowds on many occasions in the past at previous festivals, along with some of the best trad musicians the island can offer.

Manx band Mec Lir will also feature heavily on the bill, as will Cornish band Splann and the Kerry Dancers, a popular Irish dance troupe who have performed at the festival many times in the past.

The festival will also see the island debut performance of Trip, a Scots band with a Manx heart.

The majority of the festival takes place in its home town of Ramsey, where the festival has been largely based for the past two decades, although the centrepiece concert this year will move to the Peel Centenary Centre, on Sunday, April 9, beginning at 3pm for what they have called a ’Celtic Music Showcase’.

Playing in Peel will be Antó* Davila and Xosé Liz. They are two world renowned, supreme exponents of Galician folk music. Antó* is a world-recognised flautist and player on the ’Gaita’, the name for Galician bagpipes, and together with bouzouki player Xosé, they create an incredibly evocative sound that blends together classical Gaelic piping melodies with a fiery, Iberian spirit.

They played at the Shennaghys Jiu festival between 2006 and 2008, and both times they put on electrifying sets.

They will be joined by Mec Lir, who will bring their own brand of ’trad-pop’ to the bill.

Featuring the talents of three top Manx musicians, David Kilgallon, Tomas Callister and Adam Rhodes, with Irish drummer Greg Barry, they have won multitudes of fans around the world with their bouncy and infectious take on trad folk.

The popular family concerts and ceilidhs will be held at Bunscoill Rhumsaa on Friday and the Ramsey Masonic hall on Saturday and Sunday evenings, featuring performances from the visiting bands and from some of the local Manx dance groups, such as Ny Fennee and Skeddan Jiarg.

To round the festival off, there will be a band night at the Mitre Hotel, Ramsey, featuring Matt Kelly, the Mollag band, Luke and Adam Melvin and Mec Lir.

Another band playing at the showcase on Sunday night are trip, who feature Manx fiddle player Isla Callister.

Isla, who is the sister of Tomas, and her band formed in Glasgow, where she currently studies, and they made their debut at the recent Celtic Connections Festival in Scotland, in January.

Isla said she can’t wait to bring her band to play at the festival, which is where she first began playing many years ago.

’I performed at Shennaghys Jiu for the first time at the opening night, when I was about 12, with my brother,’ she said.

’I also played with my friends Kitty there as well. It would have been my first proper concert, and definitely my first time playing in front of a crowd.

’I’ve been involved with it every year since. Shennaghys Jiu is really tied up in my development and has definitely helped my progress as a musician.

’It’s great to be coming back here to play as an 18-year-old, with my six-piece band too.

’I’ve told them so much about the island, and what goes on here at the festival.

’It will be great to bring everyone over and show them what it is all about.’

There will also be outdoor performances in the centre of Ramsey on Saturday afternoon, including dancing outside the old Courthouse.

Tickets for the Sunday afternoon concert are £10, available from Shakti Mann, Celtic Gold, Thompson Travel, Port Erin and from the Peel Centenary Centre website.

Shennaghys Jiu is organised with help from Culture Vannin, and sponsors Corletts, Island Aggregates, Shoprite and Ramsey Commissioners.