Isle of Man based duo, Elizabeth Davidson-Blythe and Daniel Quayle, recently represented the island at the Australian Celtic Festival in Glen Innes, New South Wales.
The act was chosen to perform as part of the festival’s year of the Isle of Man and Ireland and were generously supported by Culture Vannin.
“It was lovely to be on the other side of the globe and see so many Manx flags and Manx language and culture being honoured in such a lovely way. It was really quite moving to be contributing to that,” said Elizabeth.
The festival saw the Isle of Man honoured with performances from the local group, as well as the Manx Dancers of Brisbane, and was opened with a rousing rendition of Ellan Vannin by the Australian Celtic Women.
Throughout the festival’s many events, the Manx flag could be seen flying proudly above the Australian Standing Stones, and the Manx language could be heard at several of the festival’s events, including the Dawn Ceremony at 5am.
The culture wasn’t limited to flags, language and music though – with Manx foods being available from several locations on the festival site and beyond – various twists on the traditional Manx bonnag could be found at local cafes, and the duo even got to enjoy a Fynoderee gin at a local bar.
The duo has a busy rest of the summer planned with performances in Wales (Fire in the Mountain), England (Folk in a Field), Belgium (Zilleghem Folk Festival), and the Isle of Man, at both the Bushy’s TT Village and Yn Chruinnaght Celtic Gathering, taking place in Peel from the 22nd to the 27th of July.
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