The winter jazz festival in Falcarragh is to go ahead – virtually.

The boutique two-day festival was started in 2018 by Falcarragh twins Conor and Micheál Murray and has enjoyed much acclaim since.

The young jazz stars, with the support of Donegal County Council and the Shamrock Lodge, have launched their livestream concert series which will take place every Wednesday night at 8pm featuring MOBO Award-nominated David Lyttle. The second session takes place online this evening.

The online winter series takes the place of this year’s festival weekend due to happen in early December in light of Covid-19 restrictions around live performances. As well as the Murray Brothers Trio performing weekly, the series will also feature some of the artists scheduled to play at this years festival.

“Although we’re disappointed at not being able to bring the festival in the form we had originally envisioned this year, we are excited to be able to create this online residency and to have the opportunity to perform regularly for people and hopefully bring something uplifting,” said Conor.

“We are also really excited to bring some of the amazing artists we had scheduled for this year’s festival, we feel really strongly about not just doing something for fans of the music and the festival, but also about doing something to help support musicians too during these times,” said Micheál.

The twins said reaction to their first online session was “fantastic”

“We were really thrilled with the positivity and enjoyment people got from listening  to us really means a lot and we are delighted to be able to bring this music to everyone.”

The series started last week and runs until mid December. It will be streamed via Shamrock Lodge (@theshamrocklodge) on Facebook every Wednesday at 8pm. The series will be available for everyone to watch live and the option to donate is given to help support the festival and musicians involved.