One of the island’s largest festivals is using the opportunities, created because of the border restrictions, to hold a week-long celebration of Manx culture.

The long-running Yn Chruinnaght’s Celtic Gathering festival is set to take place later this year and, with the organisers unable to bring the usual mix of acts from each of the Celtic nations over, the attention has been fully focused on shining a light on the best of Manx traditional music’s performers.

The festival will take place from Monday, July 19, to Sunday, July 25, with the main event being a grand-scale Ceili, held in the Royal Hall of the Villa Marina on the Saturday night.

The night will feature a mixture of performances from many of the island’s traditional dance groups, including Perree Bane, Ny Fennee and Skeddan Jiarg, interspersed by the opportunity for the hundreds of concert-goers to get up and join in with the dances.

The evening will also hear the first performance of the Manx Fiddle Orchestra, a 27-strong group of violinists and viola players who will be led by music teacher Kate Lawrence through a set of traditional classics arranged especially to accommodate the amount of instruments involved.

Elsewhere, throughout the week, there will be a mix of free music sessions, workshops and concerts as well as a range of Manx language events and an artisan crafts fair, taking place in the grounds of Peel cathedral.

The concerts begin on the Wednesday, with the popular folk/pop group the Mollag band playing at the Peel Masonic Hall.

The group, led by Greg Joughin, are celebrating their 30th anniversary of the release of their album ’Song’s from a Broken Land’ and will be joined by Scran.

Thursday night will feature a concert from the Manx folk and jazz fusion group Clash Vooar, held at the more familiar setting of the Peel Centenary Centre, the usual home of the Yn Chruinnaght concert nights.

Friday night will feature a concert by the acclaimed singer Christine Collister, and the festival will come to an end with a night hosted by the team from Manannan’s Winterfest.

The Yn Chruinnaght regularly welcomes groups from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, as well as further afield, to play and perform a wide variety of Celtic music.

However, the travel restrictions have meant that it has not been possible for the organisers to bring people over in time for this year’s event.

’I think that the wealth and breadth of Manx talent is something that is definitely worth celebrating,’ said organiser Chloe Woolley.

’Yn Chruinnaght is often such a packed week, with acts from each of the six Celtic nations but here we have the opportunity to hold a festival that really does show off the range of Manx musicians, dancers, artists, singers and everyone else we have here.

’By holding a special night in Douglas this year, we are also hoping to attract more people who may never have attended something like this before and may not have wanted to come to the centenary centre to watch Celtic music.

’Also, we have invited all the Manx dance groups to participate, and I think they are grateful for the opportunity to perform on a big level this year.

’They won’t be going off to the usual festivals they would normally be heading to, and they have largely missed out last year, so I think they will be grabbing the chance to do something a bit more polished and choreographed, and show off their skills.

’We want to use this opportunity to draw a bigger audience, attract families and get as many people as we can dancing and enjoying Manx music.’

l A full line up and ticket information is available at ynchruinnaght.com