If it’s May, it’s Bealtaine, the festival that celebrates the arts and creativity as we age. There’s plenty to choose from but here is a miniature selection: Blow the Dust Orchestra is the National Concert Hall’s resident community orchestra for older people; Growing Old Disgracefully (satirical songs/poems Cabaret Style) is based on the trials, tribulations and joys of growing older; and Beginner Creative Writing Workshop for Adults, Tullamore Central Library. See bealtaine.ie for all the details.
Music Network continue their exciting and innovative tours with the arrival of incredible French-Canadian folk super group De Temps Antan whose live shows are dosed with catchy honkytonk tunes, uncontrolled laughter, and sudden, impromptu shifts in rhythm and harmony. Three powerful vocals combine to create joyous harmonies; several of De Temps Antan’s songs also feature close-up call-and-response vocals that date back to the work songs of Quebec’s lumber camps. In lots of venues around Ireland – musicnetwork.ie
Dublin Dance Festival is back on various stages in Dublin in May featuring an eclectic mix of dancing styles and modes for every audience. Highlights include traditional Irish dancer Colin Dunne & Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui in a new collaboration and the return of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker dance company who made such an impression on their first visit to Dublin. All this and more from dublindancefestival.ie
Already a favourite from the festival circuit, director Carmel Winters film, Float Like A Butterfly, is set in 1960s Ireland. Filmed in West Cork, it features a knock out (literally) performance from newcomer Hazel Doupe as Frances, a teenage traveller coping with tragedy, hardship and prejudice. Like her hero, Muhammed Ali, Frances must fight to live her own dreams. A feminist fable about finding your place in the world. A must see from May 10.
Some but not all the speakers have been announced for Borris House Festival of Writing & Ideas in Co. Carlow. Already confirmed are Christine Lamb, a UK foreign correspondent who has reported from most of the world’s hotspots starting with Afghanistan in the late 1980s; psychotherapist Phillipa Perry whose most recent experience was counselling Love Island celebrities; and poet Paul Muldoon who will publish his 13th book of poetry this autumn. Plenty of choice in a beautiful and uplifting setting – festivalofwritingandideas.com
Cork Midsummer Festival sees award-winning site-specific theatre company Corcadorca return to Cork with The Small Things by Enda Walsh, to be performed at the Old Waterworks, Lee Road, and starring Peter Gowen and Pauline McLynn. Also, at the festival is A Different Wolf, a new dance opera created by the acclaimed Junk Ensemble and innovative music-theatre company Dumbworld. The performance blends visceral movement, text and exquisite song to create a powerful visual & sonic experience for the audience.
Lots to anticipate and enjoy…
Maretta Dillon
Events around the Country / May June 2019
WHERE MUSIC MEETS ART
Visual Arts
Curated by local artist Emma Barone and part of Birr Music Festival: a celebration of a unique relationship.
April 9 – May 17/ Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, Co. Offaly.
Information + booking: birrtheatre.com
BEALTAINE
Festival
It’s May, it’s Bealtaine. This year’s theme is Be Our Guest: hospitality, hosting, generosity and welcome!
May / various venues nationwide
Information + booking: bealtaine.ie
DE TEMPS ANTAN
Music
French-Canadian folk super group De Temps Antan interpret Quebec’s musical heritage with joie de vivre.
May 1-10 / various venues nationwide
Information + booking: musicnetwork.ie
DUBLIN DANCE FESTIVAL
Dance
A three-week celebration of brilliant, awe-inspiring and thought-provoking dance from around the globe.
May 1-19/ various venues Dublin
Information + booking: dublindancefestival.ie
FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY
Film
Director Carmel Winters debut film is a powerful and timely story of a girl’s fight for freedom and belonging.
May 10 island wide.
THE MAGIC FLUTE
Opera
Mozart’s much-loved opera of courage and love, serpents and magic interventions.
May 17-25 / Wexford and Limerick
Information + booking: irishnationalopera.ie
BECKETT | POEMS
Theatre
Experience the poems of Samuel Beckett in a sparse, true and compelling theatrical presentation.
May 18 / Smock Alley Theatre as part of International Literature Festival Dublin
Information and booking: ilfdublin.com
LAVERY & OSBORNE
Visual Arts
Summer exhibition featuring the work of John Lavery and William Osborne.
June 1 – Sept 30 / The Hunt Museum, Limerick
Information: huntmuseum.com
BORRIS HOUSE FESTIVAL OF WRITING & IDEAS
Festival
A weekend of stimulating dialogue and discourse, gathering together intriguing minds from all over the world. June 7-9 / Borris House, Co. Carlow
Information: festivalofwritingandideas.com
CORK MIDSUMMER FESTIVAL
Festival
Already confirmed is The Small Things by Enda Walsh starring Peter Gowen and Pauline McLynn.
June 13-23 / various venues Cork city.
Information + booking: corkmidsummer.com
FREUD PROJECT 2016-2021
Visual Arts
Life Above Everything: Lucian Freud and Jack B. Yeats
June 28-Dec 1 / IMMA, Dublin
Information and booking: imma.ie
YESTERDAY
Film
What if you were the only person in the world to remember The Beatles? Written by Richard Curtis.
June 28 island wide.
Finally, if you would like your event to feature in our list of arts events please email: events.country@gmail.com
