About 40 years ago, in the mid-1960s, Belfast witnessed a remarkable upsurge of interest in traditional music and song. The city wasn't alone in this regard. Something similar was happening in Dublin, Cork and Galway and in cities the length of Britain.
This development was influenced by an unusual confluence of events including the growth of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and the huge popularity of groups such as the Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners.
In the United States, singers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan enthralled thousands of spectators at huge outdoor concerts. The hobo songs and Dustbowl ballads of Woody Guthrie were resurrected. Suddenly everybody was singing The Times They are A-Changin' and it was cool to be interested in folk music.
The trouble was, nobody was exactly sure what it was. Bob Dylan, asked by an innocent reporter how many folk singers there were, thought for a moment and with his tongue firmly in his cheek, replied: "Thirty-two". The reporter wrote it down.
In Belfast, there was less uncertainty. Folk songs were what people had been singing for generations. And we had our home-grown folk singers in the McPeake Family from the Pound Loney who put Will You Go Lassie Go? firmly into the international repertoire. They were paid tribute by no less an authority than the American legend Pete Seeger. Other native singers such as David Hammond, Tony McAuley and Dave Scott suddenly gained a wider popularity.
It was a remarkable time. Clubs such as the Ulster Folk Music Society, the Belfast Folk Song Club and the QUB Folk Club brought guest performers such as The Watersons and Shirley Collins from Britain and The Fureys from the Republic and they introduced new influences. In pubs all over the city, people began meeting in the evenings and at weekends to play music and sing songs and have a bit of fun.
What was different about the folk music "revival" in Belfast was that it was a truly cross-community experience. Musicians from the Shankill Road and east Belfast were sitting down to play with fellow musicians from the Falls Road and Ardoyne. And nowhere was this more evident than in Pat's Bar in the docks area, a pub run by the Brennan family.
Pat's Bar quickly became the focal point for traditional music and song in the city, particularly at weekends when the beer would flow freely and the sessions would sometimes spill out onto the street. Many famous names graced the doors of the old-fashioned pub - among them the singer and flautist Cathal MacConnell, John Rea, the hammer-dulicimer player, the fiddler Sean Maguire, Dominic Behan, playwright, singer and songwriter - and musicians would often travel up from Dublin to join in the crack.
They were ably assisted by a group of "resident" musicians including Gerry McCartney, Leslie Bingham, Billy Bothwell, Brian Lamont, Geordie McAdam and Seanie Lavery. At one stage, Pat's Bar even had its own soccer team! But it wasn't just a male event. Women were well represented by singers such as Gillian McPherson, Patsy Melarkey, Jane Cassidy, Collette and Una Woods, May McCann, Rhona Toner and Sinead Cahir.
Sadly, the deteriorating political situation in Northern Ireland marred the scene. With the outbreak of the Troubles in 1969, people became more cautious about travelling around the city, particularly at night. The home of the Belfast Folk Song Club - the Imperial Hotel on the Cliftonville Road - was destroyed in a bomb attack. Many singers and musicians retreated to the safety of their own communities and the attendances at Pat's Bar began to dwindle.
Four years ago, two veterans of the 1960s folk scene, Fergus Woods and Brendan Fulton, decided to set up a website devoted to the traditional music "revival" in the city: belfastfolk.co.uk. It quickly became a magnet for devotees of the period. People sent in old photographs and recordings. Musicians and singers who had emigrated to various parts of the world made contact. At the time of writing, the site has clocked up 130,561 visitors and a lively debate about the demise of Belfast "sweetie shops" is in progress on the site's message board.
Now the website has decided to launch a reunion which will take place over the weekend of June 2nd to 4th of June and is being supported by Laganside Corporation. Former regulars who are expected to appear include Colin Wilkinson, Dave Shannon, Tom Hickland, Ray Maguire, Brian Fagan, Maurice Leydon, Jane Cassidy, Sam and Elaine Bracken, Patsy Melarkey, Colin Higgins, Graham Slane, Trevor Stewart and John Moulden.
The Reunion Festival will kick off on the evening of Friday, June 2nd in Pat's Bar with a music and singing session. On Saturday, there will be workshops and sessions on topics including "Folk Music - Our Cultural Diversity" and "Belfast's Heritage of Song" in the Duke of York pub in Donegal Street.
On Saturday night, there will be a formal concert when groups from the era such as The Folk Union, City Folk and The Winnowers will come together again to perform at the BT Studio in the Waterfront Hall. The reunion will wind up on Sunday afternoon at Pat's Bar.
It promises to be nostalgic event. No doubt there won't be a dry eye in the house! Check belfastfolk.co.uk for tickets and further details.