Music and dance from two outwardly different cultures will come together for an eagerly anticipated concert this weekend.

‘Neear Nesañ’, a part Breton, part Manx group, featuring the BBC Radio Two young musician of the years award winner Mera Royle and multi instrumentalist and composer David Kilgallon, along with Breton singer Lors Landat and musician Thomas Moisson, who perform unique and original music inspired by the traditional cultures of both Celtic nations, will appear at the Onchan parish Hall on Saturday, June 18, from 7.30pm.

The four piece will perform music from their award-nominated debut album ‘Beyond The Pier’, along with interpretations of both Manx and Breton folk tunes.

The evening will also feature a night of ‘Fest Noz’, a Breton-style ceili, led by Lors and Thomas.

A Fest Noz dance is a community dance characterised by simple, repetitive dance steps, performed arm-in-arm with fellow dancers.

Instead of many small groups of dancers, Fest Noz sees all the participants link together to form an endlessly-moving, dancing chain of people.

Organised by Yn Chruinnaght and held as a precursor for the forthcoming ‘Celtic Gathering’ festival, the concert has been a long time coming, having originally been due to take place in December, last year.

That evening, and the group’s appearance at the ‘Manannan’s Winterfest’ concert, was derailed by the ongoing travel restrictions, and David is keen to have the band return to the island and finally follow up their only island appearance to date, when they performed at the 2019 Yn Chruinnaght festival.

‘This is one of the rare opportunities to see us on the island,’ said David.

‘We to go to Brittany, as there seems to be a bigger interest in Manx and inter-Celtic music over there than there is here.

‘Not many people know that much about Breton music and culture over here and a collaboration like this is a slightly harder idea to sell.

‘But this is what collaborations are all about, sharing cultures and seeing what similarities exist between us.

‘Both Thomas and Lors are very excited to come here and perform again, especially as we have been all trying to get them over since their last concert before the lockdowns.

‘The sheer number of people in Brittany who are immersed in their own culture and language is quite incredible and they are also very interested in other Celtic nations and cultures.

‘In particular, a lot of Bretons are equally fascinated by the Isle of Man and how such a small island can produce such a wide range of music and culture and also have its own language.’

‘Neear Nesañ’ take their name from both the Manx Gaelic and Breton words for ‘west’, and loosely translates as ‘westwards’, as Brittany sits on the edge of Europe and looks towards the west and to the six fellow Celtic nations.

Tickets for the evening are £12 for adults, with £6 for children, available from eventbrite.co.uk

The concert is supported by Yn Chruinnaght, the Isle of Man Arts Council and Soundcheck.

As well as performing in Onchan on Saturday night, Neear Nesañ will be visiting some of the local schools to perform an hold some music and dance workshops on Tuesday, which co-incides with the international ‘Make Music’ Day. More details can be found on page 22.