Riverdance For World Oireachtas Championships

They'll be dancing to a different beat this coming week as Belfast Waterfront Hall hosts the 38th World Irish Dancing Championships.

Running from Sunday 23 through Sunday 30 March, the event is bigger than ever as the popularity of Irish dance grows and grows - now on a world scale.

Known in Irish as the Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, this is the fourth time the competition will be staged in Belfast, and is expected to attract 4,000 dancers to the Waterfront stage over an eight day run.

The competition was first held in 1970 and this year’s championship is expected to be the biggest yet, with competitors from as far a field as mainland Europe, North America, Australasia and all parts of the British Isles.

More than half of the competitors at this year’s event will be from outside Ireland. In total, there will be 314 schools of dance and 11 different countries represented during the competition.

Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Bernie Kelly said that everyone in the city was looking forward to welcoming the cream of the world’s Irish dancers to Belfast once again.

He added: “When the championships last came to the city, two years ago, it was the biggest event in Oireachtas history: we are looking forward to repeating that success, by hosting a competition that is bigger and better than ever before - and especially to our own dancers not only competing with the best in the world but once again keeping many titles at home."

In modern Irish dance, the term Oireachtas refers to an annual championship competition. The word "oireachtas" literally means "gathering" in English.

See: www.clrg.ie

(DW)(BMcC)