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29 April 2012 The Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival is pleased to announce the lineup for 2012.
We will begin our second decade, in our new home of Tullamore, celebrating the very best of Irish traditional, American bluegrass and folk music.
The weekend will consist of:
    street & pub sessions & jams,
    nightly seated concerts,
    masterclass workshops (various instruments, styles & all levels),
    free outdoor concerts,
    local craft displays,
    busking competition,
    late night Festival Club
19 February 2012 We are working hard to finalise the lineup for this year and will announce details shortly!
 
21 Sept 2006 2006 FESTIVAL A GREAT SUCCESS!!!!! Dates already announced for next year: 13-16 SEPTEMBER 2007. Mark your calendars!!!
Photos of all the geat moments will be online shortly, so if you weren't there, you'll get a good glimpse at the fabulous weekend...if you WERE there, you'll be able to recount some of the great moments and memories of the festival.   RAFFLE RESULTS! In a draw which took place at the Longford Garda station, the following winners were picked out of the box this week: 1st place winner of the autographed Deering Banjo was Jeff Burke of Nashville Tennessee USA. 2nd prize of a pack of Irish/American artist cds went to Maggie Purcell of Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland. Third prize winner was Keith Russell of Rush, County Dublin, Ireland. He won a number of gifts from Longford gift shops. CONGRATULATIONS to all winners and thank you all for supporting the JOHNNY KEENAN BANJO FESTIVAL.
25 April 2006 CMA Musician of the Year, JERRY DOUGLAS for Longford in September!
We are very proud to announce multi-Grammy award winning dobro man JERRY DOUGLAS with his band, for this year's festival. One of the most respected players in the world, Jerry's visit to Longford will certainly be one of the main highlights of our 5th anniversary celebrations! Check back at the end of this week (week of 24 April) on our Banjo Festival page for our complete lineup for September!
02 March 2006 GIBSON BANJO AUTOGRAPHED BY EARL SCRUGGS NOW AT AUCTION ON eBAY!
We have a special banjo, an 'Earl Scruggs, Standard' model for auction RIGHT NOW ON eBAY! CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION!
02 February 2006 LOUISE SCRUGGS R.I.P.
We were extremely sad to hear of the death of Louise Scruggs on Thursday 02 February. Wife and manager of the great banjo phenomenon Earl Scruggs, Louise was truly one of the greatest business minds the music industry has ever seen. Louise was directly responsible for Earl's long & incredibly successful music career. We were very proud to welcome both Earl and Louise to our festival in 2004, and will cherish those memories for years to come. The world of music will never be the same. God Bless Louise, R.I.P.
26 January 2006 DATES ANNOUNCED FOR 2006 FESTIVAL! Mark your calendars for the 14-17 September 2006 for for the 5th annual Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival
Plan now to join us for our 5th anniversary celebration! Further details and full lineup will be announced very shortly to check back with us during the upcoming month!
16 May 2005 TICKETS NOW ON SALE FOR BANJO FESTIVAL 2005!
Tickets are now on sale for all concerts of the 4th annual Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival. Weekend passes are also for sale... CLICK HERE FOR TICKETINFORMATION!
03 March 2005 BELA FLECK for Longford!!!
It's true! Once again, the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival is proud to announce an exclusive for Longford. Following on the dream-come-true performance by the legendary Earl Scruggs in 2004, we have managed to secure an exclusive appearance by the great Bela Fleck for our 2005 festival, scheduled for 22-25 September. Bela will appear with his acoustic trio, comprising Casey Driessen on fiddle, and the great BRYAN SUTTON on guitar! Also confirmed for this year are Gerry 'banjo' O'Connor (who recently won the Irish Times' 'Best traditional/folk album of 2004'), Tony Trischka, Pete & Joan Wernick, and many new faces as well! We're confident that this will, yet again, be an amazing weekend of music which should satisfy even the most discerning music fan! Full lineup and further details will be available later this month, so keep checking back on this website!
28 Sept 2004   Ireland Loves Earl Scruggs!
Well, we had another successful year of the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival. Once again everyone was treated to the great international talents who appeared on our stage, however, this year was extra special with a great performance by the legendary EARL SCRUGGS! We are so honoured to have had Earl and his band of top rate musicians appear in Longford. Their appearance exceeded all of our expectations and we wish to thank them, as well as all the participating musicians, for making this the best Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival yet! We will look forward to next year!
12 July 2004   Win a Banjo
Win a DEERING Goodtime Banjo (signed by Tony Trischka & Pete Wernick) during the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival. Raffle tickets will be on sale throughout the festival weekend throughout the town - in the festival office and elswhere. Winner will be drawn on Sun. 26 Sept.
30 June 2004  

Well...
the news is out now for the past few weeks and the excitement is mounting up for the arrival of EARL SCRUGGS to Irish shores. Tickets for the Earl Scruggs concert as well as the other concert nights of the Banjo Festival are now on sale and tickets are moving along quite nicely, we're happy to report. Looks like we'll have another great weekend in Longford! Have a look at the Banjo Festival page to view the full lineup. If you love bluegrass music and/or Irish traditional, you won't be dissappointed!!!

25 March 2004   Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival wins...
yet another award at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Longford! This year's parade was a spectacular one, with more than 70 floats taking over the streets of Longford. ...Once again, much work was put in by our very dedicated team of helpers to make this year's float even better than the last, and the result was an award for "Best Club/Organisation". It was a great day, the sun was shining brightly, and the music was great, featuring the Rough Deal String Band who were cheered on by the crowds lined up throughout the town. Nice to get a big of recognition locally. ..and by the way, we've nearly our lineup complete, so check back over the next couple of weeks for the announcement!
30 January 2004   Happy New Year to everyone!
We hope you enjoyed the holiday season...now with 2004 truly underway, we are turning all our attention to the 3rd annual Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival. The dates this year are 24-26 September...so start planning your trip to Longford right now, we promise to put together a full programme of music! Over the coming weeks we'll be inputting much information regarding the festival, so those of you who are coming from far away lands can plan your trip in good time. Feel free at any time to e-mail us with queries.
Tel: 087-281-7825 or from outside Ireland: +353-87-281-7825   All Rights Reserved. Johnny Keenan © 2009