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Forward Film Festival: Ballroom Boom

Forward Film Festival: Ballroom Boom

Times

Event Key:

  • SO Sold Out
  • WG WatchWord Glasses Available (Closed Captions)
  • AD Phonic Earsets - Audio Description Supported
  • AB Phonic Earsets - Audio Boost Supported

Details

  • Runtime: 85 minutes
  • Director: Billy McGrath
  • Cast: Adam Clayton
  • Country: Ireland
  • Year: 2025
  • Rating: (TBC)
  • Forward Festival

Forward Film Festival: Ballroom Boom

U2's Adam Clayton explores the phenomenal rise and fall of Irish showbands when over 700 bands and thousands of musicians (including future rock heroes Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher) performed the latest chart hits live in ballrooms most nights of the week during the 1960s. 40 years before U2 performed at The Sphere, Irish-born trailblazer Bill Fuller promoted showbands in Las Vegas as well as opening up ballrooms across North America and Britain for Irish emigrants who gave birth to an extraordinary generation of UK talent, including Dusty Springfield, three Beatles, Oasis, Johnny Rotten and The Smiths. But one shocking event tore the Irish music scene apart. On July 31st, 1975, rogue British "soldiers" murdered three members of The Miami, then Ireland's most popular showband, across the Northern Irish border. Survivor Steve Travers recalls that tragic night that is often called ‘the night the music died’.


  • Runtime: 85 minutes
  • Director: Billy McGrath
  • Cast: Adam Clayton
  • Country: Ireland
  • Year: 2025
  • Rating: (TBC)
  • Forward Festival

Times

Event Key:

  • SO Sold Out
  • WG WatchWord Glasses Available (Closed Captions)
  • AD Phonic Earsets - Audio Description Supported
  • AB Phonic Earsets - Audio Boost Supported