How to choose a good Ceilidh Band

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How to choose your Ceilidh Band

If you are choosing a ceilidh band for a wedding or party, you want to make sure that you and your guests will be happy with the one you book.

Some things to consider will be:

What does the band sound like? Are they together musically?
Will they play a good variety of dances?
Will the band leader call all the dances, some of the dances or none at all?
Do you want the dances to be called? If you have a lot of people coming to a wedding who have never been to a ceilidh, it might be helpful so that everyone can join in.
What's the atmosphere like at one of the band's ceilidhs?
Is the band reliable and will they be on time?
Are they dressed as you would expect?
Will they ask for travelling expenses or are they included in the price?

The bands listed here all have their own websites. Some will have an audio or video clip on their website for you to listen to. Others have testimonials - you could ask for testimonials if none are shown on their site.

Most of the bands listed have given an idea of their typical cost. This would be for an evening ceilidh and is just an indication of what they might charge. Remember that cost alone might not be a good indication of quality, so don't choose just by the price.

Go and listen to them!

If the ceilidh band you're considering is any good, the chances are they will be playing a ceilidh near you sometime soon. If they're playing at a public ceilidh, why not go along for the evening and make your mind up then? If not, you may be able to ask if you can sneak into the back of their next ceilidh just to listen and watch for a few minutes, to get an idea of the music and the atmosphere.

Other sources of ceilidh bands

As well as this directory, you may hear of other ceilidh bands by asking around.

If you are planning a wedding or party in a large Country House Hotel or Castle, they will probably have their own list of ceilidh bands and will be able to tell you how reliable they are.

Yellow Pages will also list some local ceilidh bands.