Bluegrass on the Smithwick's Music Trail, 5-6 May 2018

Bluegrass and related music at this year's Kilkenny Roots Festival is to be found not on the main stage lineup but on the Smithwick's Music Trail - the gigs in many venues around Kilkenny city.

The busiest prospective day for BIB readers is Saturday 5 May, when the Niall Toner Band (above) will be playing at Syd Harkin's at 6.00 p.m. and at the Pembroke Hotel at 10.00 p.m.; Woodbine will be at the Clubhouse at 10.00 p.m.; and Two Time Polka will be at the Left Bank, The Parade, at 4.00 p.m. and Billy Byrne's, John St., at 10.00 p.m.

On Sunday 6 May the Needables will be at the Playwright at 2.00 p.m. and the Ormonde Hotel at 10.00 p.m.; Woodbine will be at the Springhill Hotel, also at 10.00 p.m.

All the above are free-admission gigs. The Music Trail for Monday includes the 4.00 p.m. ticketed show by Molly Tuttle and Rachel Baiman, but as mentioned on the BIB two days ago, this is sold out.