Cara Dillon
Cara Dillon at The Haymarket, Basingstoke
- View tickets
Cara Dillon £34.00
Official ticket link provided by the event organiser or venue (Ents24 doesn't earn anything from this)
About the show
Upon A Winter's Night: Christmas Show.
Over the past decade, Upon A Winter’s Night has become much more than a Christmas tour. For many audiences, it has become part of Christmas itself, a much-loved annual tradition and a return, year after year, to music that offers space for reflection, wonder and connection.
Now, in its tenth anniversary year, Cara Dillon brings this celebrated show to Union Chapel once more: an evening of darkness and light, and the mystery at the heart of Christmas.
Released in 2016, and entering at number one on the Indie Album Charts, Upon A Winter’s Night quickly established itself as a distinctive and atmospheric way into Christmas. Drawing on Celtic hymns, ancient carols, traditional folk songs and original material, it reaches beyond the familiar sounds of the season towards something older, deeper and far more enduring.
There is a particular stillness at the heart of these songs: the darkness of winter, the promise of light, the joy of birth and renewal. Woven together with Dillon’s unmistakable voice and the moving musicality of her band, they create an evening that is both intimate and expansive.
For Dillon, that spiritual dimension remains central. Her relationship with this repertoire is deeply felt, and her voice brings an extraordinary clarity to music in which the sacred and the earthly have always existed side by side. It’s this combination that has made Upon A Winter’s Night such an essential part of Christmas for so many.
Featuring - Cara Dillon
Few voices linger in the soul like Cara Dillon’s. A towering figure in Irish music, she has earned global acclaim and countless awards, including the Meteor Award for Best Irish Female and four BBC Folk Awards. For close to 30 years, she has occupied a singular space in folk music. Her voice—deceptively delicate yet emotionally devastating—evokes something timeless and elemental.
Central to her remarkable career is her husband and collaborator, Sam Lakeman, whose role as composer, producer, and performer has been pivotal in shaping Dillon’s sound. Her live shows often feature classics drawn from her extensive discography, like “Black Is the Colour” and “The Parting Glass” appear alongside new material from 'Coming Home', her landmark 2024 release, which seamlessly weaves spoken word and song in a profound meditation on identity and emotion.
From her early days in Óige and De Dannan, through the major-label corridors of Warners and Rough Trade, her music has travelled far beyond folk’s usual borders and continues to defy boundaries, from chart-topping remixes, Disney soundtracks, to the hit TV series Derry Girls. As Mojo magazine once wrote, Dillon possesses “quite possibly the world’s most beautiful female voice.” With 'Coming Home', she affirms that legacy; not simply as a singer, but as a storyteller of rare emotional depth; her voice, as always, lingers long after the last note fades.