Ny Fennee -‘The Heroes’ in Manx Gaelic - will be attending the 39th Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany from July 31st to August 9th 2009.
Founded in 1980 by Sue Jaques, Ny Fennee is a group of mostly young people, the youngest, Sophie and Amy Stoutt aged 10.
The group is led by Juan Garrett, a teacher at Scoill Ree Gorree in Ramsey, who explained ‘Our aim is to promote Manx culture not only locally, such as at Yn Chruinnaght and Shennaghys Jiu each year, but also internationally.
'We’ve been to the festival at Lorient before, and it serves as an excellent way to showcase Manx traditional music and dance.
‘As Ny Fennee tends to be a younger person’s group, its composition keeps changing, depending on students’ commitments , but we usually number about 30 members, around 20 dancers and 10 musicians who play mostly fiddle, banjo, guitar and whistle.
‘Our music is predominantly Manx traditional, along with some Irish and Scottish works, and also some of our own compositions.’
Ny Fennee is distinguished by its costumes, particularly those worn by the ladies.
Juan said ‘All of our costumes are hand made locally and their design, which is peculiar to the parish of Lezayre, is based on research carried out at the Manx Museum.
'The top half of the ladies’ costume is a copy of that worn by Mona Douglas in the early 20th century, while the men’s tunics are equally authentic, the black laces on their shirts complementing those of the ladies’ tops.
‘We’re self-funding and never seek sponsorship for when we travel off-Island, such as when we’ve participated in festivals in Cornwall, Scotland, Wales, Galicia in northern Spain as well as in Brittany.
'We always 'wave the flag' for the Isle of Man both metaphorically and literally wherever we go because all our members embrace what we do, namely to see Manx culture become recognised internationally.’
Ny Fennee also performs at civic occasions, fairs and a range of Island events. For more details visit www.homespages.mcb.net/ny-fennee
www.festival-interceltique.com
