Due to restrictions imposed by the Government in view of the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 an attempt in the Gaeltacht to break six fiddle-playing Guinness World Records has been delayed.
Organisers of the Event both in Ireland and abroad are sad to announce their decision but feel that peoples’ health and safety come first over any group event.
In the meantime, until such time as the world records-breaking event takes place, which will probably be in the Spring if restrictions ease, organisers will launch an online, five-minute fiddle-playing video competition with prize money, about which details will be posted on this website soon.
“The world record-breaking event would have involved hundreds of musicians and under present circumstances, it would be foolhardy for any event involving diverse groups of people together to go ahead over the next few weeks,” explained Sean Hillen, author and journalist from Bun na Leaca in the Donegal Gaeltacht who is lead organiser of the event. “Peoples’ health – maybe even their lives – are at stake and that is, of course, far more important than any event of any kind taking place, no matter what it is. Hosting major events in these dangerous times would be irresponsible.”
The fiddle-playing event, which would be a record even for Guinness World Records itself, has three main aims – to support a number of charities including Alzheimer’s, motor neurone disease, cancer services, and the debilitating genetic condition, amyloidosis, also known as Donegal amy due to its prevalence in the county; to highlight the rich treasure of arts and cultural talent in Donegal; and to emphasise the urgent need for regeneration of rural Ireland to preserve its long-held traditions.
Sean added, “All of the people involved in the project are naturally deeply disappointed as hundreds of hours of work had already gone into preparing for it, including creating this, the official ‘Fiddles and Faeries’ website, which will be bilingual within the next few weeks. Fiddle players from all over Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Canada and the US, passionate about their music, were enthusiastic to participate. I should emphasise, our decision is to delay the event, not to cancel it. We are confident it can go ahead later, probably in the Spring of next year, if social restrictions are eased.”
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