It began with an unscheduled fireworks display which "frightened" the organisers, but it takes more than a lightning storm and an occasional cloudburst to spoil the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.
Tens of thousands filled the streets of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, at the weekend for an event that has become so big that Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann doesn't shout too loudly about it lest it become entirely unmanageable.
The music began several days before the official opening on Friday and is not likely to stop for a couple of days yet, though the official programme suggests the fleadh concluded last night.
Still playing at Templeshannon at 12.30 a.m. yesterday, up the street from Treacy's Hotel, were Mr Pat McQuillan from Lurgan and his friend Mr Gerard Devlin, who are Fleadh Cheoil veterans.
Mr Devlin brought his accordion to the first fleadh in Mullingar in 1951 and has missed only a few since.
With the weather improving as the weekend went on, the fleadh was turning into a great event, he said. "When the weather's good we can play on the streets and that's where folk music should be played."
Mr McQuillan, a fiddler, made his fleadh debut 41 years ago, making another member of the group, banjo player Mr Martin Molloy, from near Lurgan, a relative newcomer.
"My first one was in Sligo, maybe 12 years ago, and since then I haven't missed any. And I'll not miss any more. It's the place, the people, the music, it all goes into making a good fleadh. This one has been good so far and it's better it's getting."
While impromptu sessions on the streets and in the pubs are an essential element of the mix, the 150-odd competitions in musicianship and singing continue to form the core of the fleadh, said Mr Bernard O'Sullivan, projects officer with Comhaltas.
Performers in a variety of age categories, from under-12s to over-18s, must come through provincial championships to qualify for the national finals that make up Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.
While revellers in a packed Market Square on Saturday evening had just two concerns, where to buy the next pint and how to find an unoccupied square foot in which to drink it, uptown in the "Dome" marquee the tension was evident as young musicians competed for the title of Ireland's best ceili band in the 15-to-18 age group.
The standard on the night was further evidence that the number of good young traditional musicians was increasing all the time, said Mr Liam OCuinneagain, national competitions officer of Comhaltas, as the adjudicators added up the scores before declaring Gort Leitreach, from near Mohill, Co Leitrim, as the winners.
The range of instruments played by competitors in the fleadh is extensive, including the harp, banjo, accordion, fiddle, mouth organ, mandolin, flute, bodhran, whistle and pipes.
It is not quite broad enough to include the didgeridoo, but that ubiquitous instrument was to be heard in Market Square where no rules apply.
Another having a good fleadh was Dublin-based bodhran-maker Mr Paraic McNeela, who said trade had been excellent.
His customers at the event tended to be musicians, "so you're not going to sell touristy-type bodhrans, you're selling good-quality ones".
Mr McNeela makes the instrument with raw material supplied by a farmer who sells goat meat to greyhound-owners. "I only use goat skin. Some people use calf skin and you can even use deer skin, but I find the goat skin the best because it's the most supple and generally makes for better-toned bodhrans."
Mr McNeela's business was not the only one to benefit from the event, which is worth an estimated £10 million to the town that hosts it.
Garda Supt Pat Delaney said there had been a total of 23 arrests up to yesterday afternoon, mainly for minor offences such as being drunk and disorderly. Everything, including traffic management, had gone "according to plan".
