Popular Wexford DJ lands residency in Portugal for the upcoming summer

A popular Wexford DJ has landed himself a residency in Portugal for Summer 2024…

Wexford based DJ, DJ Ciano, is from Camolin just outside of Gorey, but he will be calling Albufeira in Portugal his new home for Summer 2024.

Cian Fitzgerald Byrne, more commonly known around now as DJ Ciano, has secured a residency in the Temple Bar in Albufeira. For those that are unaware, a DJ residency is a series of consecutive shows, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location.

DJ Ciano came to fame during the Covid-19 lockdown. He believed that people across Wexford and Ireland needed their spirits to be lifted. To enhance their spirit, Cian decided to start doing live gigs from his parent’s garden shed.

Speaking to Cian, the Wexford man could barely contain his excitement ahead of his residency in Portugal. But one might be wondering, how could a young man from Camolin land such a residency?

“I got the residency in Albufeira, the Algarve in Portugal this summer which I’m so excited for! Last year, I went over for a week and I played in Temple Bar Albufeira on the strip! And the night I was there, the place was absolutely packed and people never left it. It was full till the end of the night! The next day, both Mark and Bernardo – the owners of Temple Bar had asked me would I come out to do a summer residency and I said “yes 100%.” This is really a dream come through to be Dj’ing out in Portugal this summer as I came from a small garden shed at home to now playing to so many people over the summer,” he said.

DJ’ing is all about the experience and the interaction with the crowd, and that’s one thing that Ciano is looking forward to the most:

“The thing I’m most excited for is to meet new people get more engagement with people. And just to have fun and just live it up over there! Life is too short, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity since last August! When I left after a week, I wanted to go back to Portugal straight away. It’s such an amazing place the people, the food, and the weather. I’m buzzing,” Cian told Wexford Weekly.

Cian’s rise has been somewhat meteoric. From Dj’ing in his garden shed to securing a residency on the Portugal strip during the summer illustrates this. But the Wexford man is no stranger to putting himself out there either. Over the last three years, he has also appeared on multiple TV series in Ireland including First Dates Ireland, Pulling with my Parents, and most recently, Love in the Country.

Being no stranger to putting himself out there, Cian’s advice to people interested in becoming a DJ. Similar to Nike’s famous phrase, he encourages people who are interested to just go for it and work hard:

“The best advice I’d give to anyone starting out how to DJ would be to just go for it and never give up! I sat at home during evenings after school listening to music going to school listening to tunes! It was always a passion for me! I never gave up I stuck with it! As they say hard work does pay off! Going back 4 years playing in a garden shed and now jetting off to Portugal to start my residency – it’s just insane – it really is,” he said.

Before he jets off to Portugal, Cian has a few gigs still to go. One of the events he’s looking forward to the most is the Buffers Alley ShedFest, where he has been announced as one of the main acts on the night.

Cian, being as thankful as ever, wanted to thank everyone for their support over the years, making a special mention to his “best mate James Callan who has been there for me” and “comes to all my gigs – what a gent”.

One phrase stuck out from this short interview with DJ Ciano which sums up his character. “I’m just buzzing,” he said. And if you ever talked to Ciano, you’d no doubt be buzzing too with the radiation of positive energy he emits.