Fairfax Music Friday: Auld Shebeen

The Auld Shebeen is a local favorite with an Irish flair (photo by John Irwin).

The Auld Shebeen, an Irish pub and restaurant in the city of Fairfax, offers residents a taste of Irish culture in a family-friendly atmosphere.

Many students know the Auld Shebeen for its club tucked in the basement of the establishment. However, for those who feel less comfortable in a club scene, the pub offers live Irish music on Friday and Saturday evenings from some of the area’s best traditional Irish acts.

The music provides a pleasant background ambience. Most attendees sitting around the performers are more focused on their meals-- ranging from traditional Irish dishes to American classics-- and on the friends gathered with them than on those on the makeshift stage.

When one listens to it, however, the music is worth the trip. It may not ensnare all who stop by the pub, but it subtly adds to the Irish pub atmosphere the Auld Shebeen works to uphold.

In Ireland, a ‘shebeen’ was an illicit drinking den or an after-hours speakeasy where people were able to find good conversation, drink and food.

The Auld Shebeen is no exception. Recently, the pub was voted the Best Irish Pub in 2013’s “Best of NoVa” issue of Northern Virginia Magazine.

Unable to make it out on Friday or Saturday nights? Auld also offers additional sessions hosted by a myriad of different local artists from 12-3 p.m. on Saturday at the Yeats Library.

Acts typically begin around 7 p.m. and go until 9:30 or 10 p.m. For a complete list of upcoming acts, click here.