A big move for the Eisteddfod Festival of Traditional Music: -- we are moving out of New York City and into the Great Beyont.

With some trepidation and some excitement, the 2009 Festival will be at the Nevele Hotel in Ellenville, NY on October 16-18. Ellenville is about 2 hours north (and a bit west) of New York, probably 90 minutes from Albany. We very much hope that many will be moved to come who haven't before; the music has been genuinely extraordinary for the past 5 years since we revived it after it kind of vanished in Massachusetts.

As always, full details on the staff (now essentially complete) can be found at www.eisteddfod-ny.org -- but here are a few highlights.

ALison McMoreland and Geordie Macintyre will be coming from Scotland, with great songs but also an abundance of folklore. Claire Boucher will be coming from Brittany via Montreal, returning guests from last year include John Roberts and Tony Barrand (last year's winners of the Eisteddfod Award for long service to the tradition), as will Bill and Livia Vanaver who we hope will also be bringing their magnificent group of teenage performers. Robert Bouthillier (from Serre L'Ecoute) and Eva Guillerol (also from Brittany) will be doing Folkloric presentations (Eva has recently completed a doctorate on ancient ballad singing in Brittany), Enoch Kent is returning and will be conducting a panel kind of interviewing Eisteddfod founder Howard Glasser, and completing a very strong Scottish presence Norman Kennedy will be coming. We expect to announce the winner of the 2009 Eisteddfod Award in about 10 days, and perhaps a couple more exciting new performers.

The fesitval is being run as the Pinewoods Folk Music Club's Fall weekend, so we will also have abundant opportunity for singing for all, a dance with a caller to be announced also within a week. The Nevele has, if you can tear yourself away from the music, a huge indoor pool, golf, spectacular food, and the ghosts of a lot of ancient Yiddish comics. . . talk about tradition --what more could you ask, oy?

So do check out the website. . . .

We are really hoping that the new location will be the opening of a new door for this magnificent festival, and we hope many of you will be moved to support its continuance by signing up for a spectacular time in a weekend of the greatest of traditional music.

For any further info, you can call (718) 429-3437.

Jerry Epstein