TERMS RELATED TO IRISH DANCE COMPETITIONS

Feis – (pronounced “FESH”) an Irish word that means festival, but is more commonly used to describe a sanctioned Irish dance competition

Feiseanna – plural of feis, pronounced “FESH-nah”

Oireachtas – (pronounced “O-ROCK-tus”) an Irish word that means gathering, but within the context of Irish dance generally refers to the Regional Championships

Majors – championship events with entry restricted to dancers who have qualified for Open Champion level, and/or who have qualified from a prior championship event North American Irish Dancing

Championships (NAIDC) – one of the majors; sometimes referred to as “Nationals” or ”North American Nationals” (NANs), which is a conundrum since North America is a continent, not a nation