Sea Sessions to bring music legends to stunning Donegal beach

Another week, another list and that's a good thing for it means there's loads of stuff happening right across Ulster.

This time we head west to the faded glamour of Bundoran, everyone's favourite childhood summer holiday haunt and now reinventing itself as a cool surf hangout. Great beaches never seem to go out of fashion, especially when there's a fairly dependable swell for boarders to hang 10 on. That's about the limit of my surf terminology so we'll get to the point Sea Sessions.

First launched in 2008, the festival has grown from a low-key, laid-back Donegal event to a low-key, laid-back Donegal event with huge appeal across Ireland and beyond.

READ MORE: Win tickets to Shania Twain at Belsonic

READ MORE: KNEECAP announce SEE Arena Belfast show for 2024

Now a mainstay of the Irish party calendar, it's the only festival in the country to bring together music, surfing and sport (plus all the other food and fun you'd expect) and has, over the years, hosted some of the biggest and best acts from Ireland, the UK and further afield. These have included headline slots by Primal Scream, Kasabian, Dizzee Rascal, Clean Bandit, Tinie Tempah, Becky Hill and Dermot Kennedy. Impressive stuff.

This year's festival has an equally exciting line-up with a diverse range of acts from the legendary Johnny Marr to Jazzy, Casso (that name again!) to Don Letts taking to the stage at Ireland's biggest beach party on the stunning Tullan Strand.

The fun kicks off on Friday, June 21, and continues through the weekend with a big showpiece concert on Sunday night. And all through the weekend there's a tonne of cool sports events, largely based around the beach of course. So there's beach soccer, tag rugby, volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, beach yoga, "sea sauna" and a dip in the sea. Make sure and register your team for these because they always get booked up. There are also BMX and skateboard displays all the cool stuff that the young one like...

So to the music, then, and we've already mentioned Johnny Marr. The former Smiths, The The, Electronic and Modest Mouse (among many other cool collaborations) guitarist and all-round good guy headlines the whopper Sunday night show. Also on the bill that night are the indie-rock troubadour Jake Bugg, bouncy house head Daire and the more cerebral Elaine Mai and Ultimate favourite Reevah. There's tonnes more too.

Friday's show is headlined by blk.'s heavy trance but I'd be more keen to check out Armagh singer-songwriter Conchur White a little bit lower down the roster along with the class Soft Launch whose brilliantly quirky Piano Hands single was released last week (big nods to Sparks).

Saturday's highlights include the wistful superstar singer songwriter Cian Ducrot (184million streams and counting, and that's just on Spotify) but again the cooler stuff is down the bill, as is usually the case. There are plenty to check out but legendary DJ and Clash pal Don Letts would be a priority just like Co Down psych-pop hero Lemonade Shoelace awesome.

Tickets for the Sea Sessions are, as you'd expect just a week before, are in short supply but there are some still available. Check out seasessions. com for all the craic from times to travel to camping and how much booze you can bring in, all the important stuff. And tickets of course.

Ryan's set to home in for debut at Stendhal

They're the quintessential North of England soulful indie band but Skinny Living frontman Ryan Johnston begs to differ.

The singer was born and reared in Northern Ireland Bangor, in fact before settling with his young family in Wakefield, near Leeds.

So when he and his bandmates Will Booth and Danny Hepworth hit Stendhal Festival for the first time next month it will be like a homecoming concert.

He said: "I get to come home maybe two or three times a year and in terms of gigging, we have steadily been moving up through the venues to where we had our last limelight show moved from the Limelight 2 up to the main room, which we sold out. That was a great milestone for us.

"Hopefully we'll get to play a lot more in Northern Ireland and Ireland in the coming years but playing Stendhal will be the next one I've heard great things about it and I'm really excited to be among so much Northern Irish talent on the bill.

"Then it will be on to see if we can fill up the Ulster Hall in November. That will be a great indicator for where we are, especially in a Northern Irish context."

Ryan said he hopes to win over a new audience when they hit the Stendhal stage at Ballymully Farm, Limavady, on July 5, but the focus is always on existing fans. He added: "We play directly to the people who are there specifically to see us and hopefully their energy will spill out and resonate with everyone else."

Standhal Festival, Limavady, July 4-6, tickets from stendhalfestival.com.

All write to talk about Brand New Friend concert...

Is it nepotism to mention a concert by Northern Ireland indie popsters Brand New Friend?

I don't think so. The group's Taylor Johnson co-writes the fab column in the Daily Mirror and Belfast Live alongside the great Rigsy but I've never met him so I reckon it'd be within the guidelines.

Anyway, it's fair comment that Brand New Friend are one of the best bands Northern Ireland has around and the minute and latest album Grandstand is a belter. And it's indisputable they're playing their only show of the summer at the Oh Yeah Centre tomorrow. It's an all-ages affair with support from Disorder, Cairo Station and Martha Greer. Doors 6pm, tickets from ohyeahbelfast.com. Truth.

To keep up to date with events around Northern Ireland sign up to our Belfast Live Social newsletter here.