{"id":582246,"date":"2026-08-03T20:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/582246\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:42:14","slug":"ed-sheeran-backed-project-takes-centre-stage-at-fleadh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/582246\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran-backed project takes centre stage at Fleadh"},"content":{"rendered":"

A music project supported by the Ed Sheeran Foundation<\/a> took centre stage on day two of the first Fleadh Cheoil na h\u00c9ireann to take place in Belfast.<\/p>\n

Young people from Belfast and Cork involved in North South Sounds 2026 gave a rendition of The Cranberries’ hit Zombie during a performance on the Gig Rig at City Hall on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Some of the other highlights included the Comhaltas Gradam Inclusion Awards at the MAC celebrating traditional Irish musicians with additional needs.<\/p>\n

Later, there was a celebration of 50 years of Ards Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann featuring The Priests alongside leading traditional performers at the Waterfront Hall.<\/p>\n

Across the day, crowds thronged the streets of Belfast for the world’s largest celebration of Irish music and culture, which has been projected to bring a \u00a353-million economic boost to the city.<\/p>\n

The Fleadh will see more than 200 events and 180 traditional music competitions take place in venues, pubs, and streets, with 800,000 people expected to visit Belfast over the week-long celebration to 9 August.<\/p>\n

It is the first time the annual music festival has been held in Belfast and only the second time it has been held in the North, after being hosted in Derry in 2013.<\/p>\n

The 2026 event has been billed as one of the most culturally diverse in its history, with cross-community participation and a celebration of traditions from across Northern Ireland and beyond.<\/p>\n

\"Ed
\nEd Sheeran – North South Sounds 2026 is his foundation’s new project<\/p>\n

Stormont Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald told the BBC that her department allocated \u00a31 million in funding to help stage the event, and said the economic impact that has been modelled is in and around \u00a353 million.<\/p>\n

North South Sounds 2026 also performed at the Oh Yeah Centre, a venue set up with backing from Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody.<\/p>\n

The Oh Yeah Centre is involved in the project along with the Ed Sheeran Foundation (ESF) and Music Generation Cork City.<\/p>\n

North South Sounds 2026 aims to connect children and young people in Cork city and Belfast through songwriting, performance, and community engagement. <\/p>\n

Last year, Sheeran performed at the Fleadh alongside local artists in the Sky and the Ground pub in Co Wexford, sparking speculation that he may visit the Belfast Fleadh at some stage during the week. <\/p>\n

Source: Press Association<\/p>\n

Click here for more music news.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A music project supported by the Ed Sheeran Foundation took centre stage on day two of the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60],"class_list":["post-582246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}