Join us as we count down to an exciting season of cultural happenings across the country...
Carlow Arts Festival
When? 5 - 9 June 2024
The 45th annual Carlow Arts Festival offers an impressive lineup of more than 80 events spanning various art forms, from dance and literature to theatre, circus and the visual arts. To kick off the festivities, the opening performance will feature a free outdoor interactive show called Pelat, created by acclaimed Spanish artist Joan Català, which will take place on the grounds of Carlow College on Thursday, June 6th.
Among the notable events in this year's festival programme are esteemed UK circus company, Gandini Juggling, presenting their award-winning show The Games We Play on Friday, June 7th at VISUAL Theatre; on Saturday, June 8th, The O'Hara's Big Top Tent will feature a headline show by indie-rock sensation Basht; and on Sunday, 9th June, renowned storyteller Aindrias de Staic will present By the Light of the Silvery Moon an evening of Irish stories told through words and music.
A highlight of this year's festival programme is First Light by Asylum Productions; a collaboration with the local community, this immersive indoor and outdoor street theatre experience, will take place each evening across the festival weekend. Elsewhere, on Wednesday, June 5th, Caitríona Ní Mhurchú will present her captivating children's show entitled A Suburban Legend and Carlow VISUAL will present their Summer exhibition, Behind the Curtain featuring invited and commissioned works along with Irish and international artists. The annual Carnival of Collective Joy, which honours the imaginative spirit of school children throughout the county, will commence on Saturday, June 8th.
Cork Midsummer Festival
When? 12 - 25 June 2024
Cork Midsummer Festival (CMF) focuses on events that cross artforms and immersive experiences, using Cork city as a stage, with events and performances taking place in woods, swimming pools, warehouses, streets, forts, parks and more. This year's international programme includes renowned artists Tino Sehgal (whose works are never documented and can only be experienced live in the moment), outdoor theatre makers Kamchatka, and award-winning dance/theatre company Lost Dog.
The line-up also includes a world premiere of Tempesta by Deirdre Kinahan with live music from Steve Wickham from The Waterboys; Theatre for One: This is Ireland (from Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals) featuring works by 6 new writers chosen from a public call out, each mentored by a renowned playwright; David O’Doherty’s award-winning book for children The Summer I Robbed a Bank brought to life in a stage adaptation by O'Doherty’s brother Mark; acclaimed Irish shows, including Dead Centre and Emilie Pine’s Good Sex and Emma Martin's Night Dances, both companies presenting in Cork for the first time.
Elsewhere, a new trail of artworks by Chris Judge showcase the joy of cycling in urban spaces; celebrate the summer solstice with two electrifying weekends of late-night revelry featuring live music, electronic music and art; tune into a pop-up community radio station aiming to combine a visual art approach to audio programming; and audiences can dance along to the Midsummer Parade.
Cairde Sligo Arts Festival
When? July 6th to 13th 2024
This year's Cairde Sligo Arts Festival promises to transform Sligo town and county into a vibrant hub of colourful and exciting activity, featuring events across music, theatre, dance, literary, family-friendly shows and more.
Audiences can join in the fun of Cairde in the Park in Sligo’s Peace Park; Prologue is an outdoor immersive performance inviting the audience to become voyeurs to the backstage world of a travelling circus; The Air Between Us is an aerial collaboration created and performed by dancer and choreographer Chloe Loftus and award-winning Māori dance artist Rodney Bell, who performs in his wheelchair; and KING | SHRINE is an immersive performance installation work by acclaimed choreographer Emma Martin, conceived as a ceremony for the end of the world as we know it, asking audiences to reflect on the current chaos of our world, whilst being present in the simple act of gathering and dancing.
Musical highlights include BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year Rioghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet; Sligo-based Austrian violinist/singer/yodeller and composer Claudia Schwab; a live performance followed by a late-night DJ from New Jackson, the performance alias of singer-songwriter David Kitt; while Wandering Voices is a trail of short performances taking place in five different locations with 10 different artists from around the island and close to home, connected by the theme of Mythos and Movement, across poetry, music, and cabaret.
Earagail Arts Festival
When? 13th - 28th July 2024
Donegal's premier summer event returns with an expanded programme of circus, street arts performances and camps as part of its popular Wild Atlantic Weekends, alongside a stellar line-up of music that includes everything from Mali's Bassekou Kouyate and Boubacar Traoré to local stalwards The Henry Girls.
The festival line-up features a host of theatre, dance and spoken word events, including The Journals Fleadh, Ireland’s first literary journal fleadh; Cosán Árainn Mhór – Siúlóid Filíochta agus Cheoil, an art and poetry walk on Arranmore Island followed by an evening of spoken word and song, Oíche Airneáil Árainn Mhór; a performance by contemporary Irish dance company Ériu/Na Mic Ua gCorra on Gola Island; and Boyfriends, a new theatre work by emerging Donegal talent Ultan Pringle.
Earagail's extensive visual arts programme features across a network of venues, including Churchill's Glebe House & Gallery, Artlink Fort Dunree, Donegal County Museum, An Gailearaí and Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny.
The Galway International Arts Festival
When? 15th - 28th July 2024
With a packed programme of theatre, circus, music, visual art, street art and spectacle, comedy and talks, this year's GIAF looks at who we are and what concerns us, with a programme that includes 7 world premieres, a new visual arts Festival commission, their biggest music line-up to date and a theatre programme that includes the world premieres of Reunion by Mark O'Rowe, The Map of Argentina by Marina Carr and Dining Room by Enda Walsh and Paul Fahy.
Other highlights include a new production from Druid of Samuel Beckett’s comic-tragic masterpiece Endgame; Australian circus and acrobatic performers Circa with the European premiere of Duck Pond, their reimagining of the classic Swan Lake; and from the Lebanon Tania El Khoury’s Cultural Exchange Rate an immersive installation which examines the never-ending story of migration.
Elsewhere, the visual arts programme includes a show from Australian sculptor Patricia Piccinini, known for her lifelike hybrid creatures, alongside works from Bernadette Kiely, Miriam de Búrca, Brian Bourke, Karen Cox, Brian Ballard, Yvonne McGuinness and more.
Kilkenny Arts Festival
When? 8th – 18th August 2024
With the full programme yet to come, Kilkenny's music line-up features a scintillating mix of international and Irish artists. Highlights include Irish National Opera with the European premiere of two new operas from the creative partnership of composer Emma O'Halloran and playwright/librettist Mark O’Halloran, Trade and Mary Motorhead; festival favourites the Carducci String Quartet with two lunchtime concerts featuring Mozart, Fanny Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Philip Glass, and a special evening performance centred on Steve Reich’s seminal work, Different Trains; two artists that wowed Kilkenny audiences back in 2017, Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov, for a marathon day featuring Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for four hands, Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s sublime last Sonatas.
Finghin Collins and Máire Carroll will also perform for the first time as a complete set, the Ros Tapestry Suite – a collection of 15 works by Irish composers in response to each of the Ros Tapestries, currently on display at Kilkenny Castle, including Linda Buckley, Sam Perkin, Sebastian Adams, John Kinsella, Gráinne Mulvey, Elaine Agnew, Raymond Deane, Gerald Barry and more.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
