Rapalje

About

Rapalje have been flying the Celtic folk flag from Groningen since the mid 1990s, blending Irish, Scottish and Dutch folk music into a sound that works equally well in a theatre or at an outdoor festival. Kilts, bagpipes, bodhrán, fiddle, tinwhistle and the oddly inventive gitouki all feature in their setup, and they sing in both English and Dutch. Over the years they have racked up more than ten studio and live recordings, from their 1998 debut Into Folk through to Scotland's Story in 2019. The band currently consists of William van der Laan, David Myles and Marcel Maceál Meijer, with Sebastiaan Hidding completing the quartet after co founder Dieb den Boer stepped away in April 2022 for health reasons. Beyond performing, they also run the Rapalje Zomerfolk festival in the Groningen city park and have taken on the organisation of the Imaginarium festival.