A LOCAL music duo, Niamh Carney and Philana Nolan – known as Laytha – are hosting a ‘Virtual Blakes of the Hollow Open Mic Night’ on Boxing Day, with the aim of raising money for an important cause.

This will be the third such event of its kind hosted by Niamh and Philana, who originally came up with the idea during the first Coronavirus lockdown.

In the absence of their Summer open mic series for Blakes of the Hollow this year, the duo decided to take their Enniskillen event online and hosted a virtual event in May, raising a substantial amount of money for Fermanagh Women’s Aid.

More recently, they organised a youth open mic event as part of the Inside Outside Youth Festival, which took place in November.

The Boxing Day online open mic event will be live-streamed on Saturday, December 26 via Blakes of the Hollow’s YouTube channel at 10pm and will be in aid of Help Musicians NI.

Help Musicians is an independent charity with an extraordinary history. For almost 100 years, it has provided a broad spectrum of help, support and opportunities to empower musicians aged 18+, at any stage of their career or retirement, from times of great need to times of opportunity, providing a lifetime of support when it is needed most.

Supported

This year has been particularly challenging for musicians, and more than 17,000 people have been supported through the charity’s Hardship efforts since March, but the need continues.

During the event, the duo will be welcoming back previous virtual open mic night performers including Shauna McMorrow, Karl Ledwith and Sean Magee, to name but a few.

It is sure to be a great night of entertainment in aid of a very worthy cause.