Kertalg '73

 2e FESTIVAL POP'CELTIC

KERTALG 73

Barclays, 1973, 920.452/920.453

The festival of Kertalg in Brittany was an important step in the gathering of all the  ''Celtic'' countries at the beginning of the folk revival in France. After the festival in Brest and before Lorient this festival lasted for three years only. For more details please see my post about the first edition (March 2022).
In 1973 the programming was much more ambitious than for the first edition. This why it is a double album but as said Gwenn Le Goarnic the organiser only a small part of the concerts was selected. Some of the artists were there in 1972 like René Werneer (then Alan Stivell's fiddle player), HappyTraum from the USA and the Goadec Sisters and the Skloferien from Brittany. That second year the ''stars'' were Planxty and Brenda Wootton.  Robin Dransfield was there too as well as two Breton groups Dremmwel and Diaouled ar menez (''horizon'' and ''the Devils of the mountain'' respectively in Breton).
Le Goarnic wrote that she wanted to favour Planxty and Wootton because she thought that they were a revelation to the French public thanks to their talent and personalities. There is a fiddle on some of Planxty's sets : it was R. Werneer who had met with Planxty in Britain at various festivals and who knew their repertoire well enough. That was Planxty's first visit to France; they were in Le Havre the following year as part of an Irish delegation invited by the City council to introduce the public to Irish history and culture. This event was recorded and broadcasted on France Culture (part of Radio France) the same year.
I must mention two other Irish guests who were known as ''Munroe'' (or Monroe) with Micheal O'Domhnaill and Mick Hanly who sang a scottish ''mouth music'' song that became part of Bothy Band's repertoire soon after.

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