Where can you watch a Great White shark leap from the Atlantic onto a silver screen? Experience international award winning theatre and enter the belly of a 50ft inflatable whale? Well, from the 7th to the 22nd of July, the answer is Donegal, as the 19th Earagail Arts festival brings adventures in art for all the family.
Family fun
With a huge range of events to experience, where do you start? How about climbing inside a true to life 50ft inflatable sperm whale! Inside The Whale see the stunning seascape and hear extraordinary fishy tales from mermaids and pirates.
On another beach there is another sea animal but this one has big teeth! Not for the faint hearted, Downings Beach becomes the venue for the drive-in screening of Jaws, as moviegoers look out to the Atlantic, Jaws will burst onto the big screen.
Or enter into a sensual world of liquid, light and colour – the Levity II Luminarium, a 1000 square metre inflatable sculpture made up of labyrinthine tunnels and inspiring spacious domes.
Other events include A Fairy’s Tale enacted in the gardens of Glebe House, sand sculpting, drawing workshops, Party in the Park, Festival of Food, and the outdoor night-time exhibition Loinnir.
Theatre
Packed with innovation and energy, the Earagail Arts Festival programme offers some real theatrical highlights. Get an insight into the experience of other migrant nations and catch one of the festival’s highlights – the award winning Sclavi/ The Song of an Emigrant, a powerful dramatic interpretation of the experiences of emigrants from Slovakia and the Ukraine in America in the 1930’s.
Another headliner is the production of ‘The O’Neill’ by Thomas Kilroy, recreating the complex world of Hugh O’Neill – one of the old Earls of Ireland. This fast-moving, action-packed play is set before, during and after the Battle of Yellow Ford; concluding with O’Neill’s defeat at the Battle of Kinsale, which ultimately led to the last of the Gaelic Lordships and the end of Gaelic Ireland.
Other theatrical offerings include Pat McCabe’s stage production of the Butcher Boy – Frank Pig Says Hello, Michael Harding’s ‘Jonathan Swift: Talking Through His Hat’ and the hilarious Fanzini Brothers, with their show Deathwish!
Music
Get dancing to the legendary founders of Jamaican roots music, The Skatalites – the band that was at the forefront of the transformation from ska to reggae will bring to the North West the sounds and strong syncopated rhythm that have fuelled the popularity of Jamaican music across the world.
The original Irish supergroup Patrick Street, whose members are inseparably linked with the best that Irish traditional music has to offer, are also appearing. Their mixture of rip-roaring dance tunes and sensitive ballads offers a rare chance to witness at first hand one of the most abundant musical sources of the last twenty years.
Other acts include new folk troubadours Seth Lakeman and Eliza Carthy, jazz miscreants Acoustic Ladyland, new generation pioneers of trad, Jarlath Henderson, Lau and Martin Crossan, the stellar vanguard of Declan O’Rourke and Joan as Policewoman, mixed with the classical repertoire of the RTE Vanbrugh Quartet.
Spoken Word
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Donegal have always had a shared heritage in language, culture and people. Both cultures enjoy the art of sharing history, swapping stories and singing songs. This heritage will be celebrated as part of the 19th Earagail Arts Festival.
Telling tall tales of oceans, giants and magical rocks, Scots Gàidhlig singer, actress and writer Beathag Mhoiresdean joins acclaimed Irish traditional storyteller Niall De Burca and local narrator Gearóidín Breathnach for an afternoon. And letting their words weave magic will be the poets of Highlands to Islands, with an evening of traditional and contemporary verse.
Tory Treats
Taking over Tory Island for a weekend, the Sean Nós Festival is a cultural extravaganza hosted by Lillis O’Laoire. After the official opening by King of Tory, Patsy Dan Rodgers, catch the premiere screening of Sean Nós Nua a newly commissioned short documentary film by the Nerve Centre in Derry and students from Tory Island. The grand finale features performances by Liam O’Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers with Lillis O’Laoire and a number of singers from the island.
Visual Arts
Painting in the Noughties is an exhibition of abstract and semi-abstract paintings by leading artists, including Sean Scully, Jason Martin, Ian Davenport, Alexis Harding, Cecily Brown and Peter Davis amongst others. Wild Geese: The Irish in America will also be on display in the new Regional Cultural Centre daily for the duration of the festival. The Irish diaspora helped build nations and this exhibition looks at the creativity and artistry of descendents of the Wild Geese and Irish born artists in America.
So if you’re looking for entertainment and excitement, with world-class performances – then come visit Donegal and the Earagail Arts Festival!
Earagail Arts Festival is supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Failté Ireland, and Donegal County Council.
The 2007 festival is also supported by Udaras na Gaeltachta, Letterkenny Town Council, Colmcille, Interreg IIIA, Department of the Taoiseach, Ealain na Gaeltachta, Office of Public Works, EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and The Flight of the Earls.
For more information, please contact Meisoon Nasralla on +353 (0) 74 9168800 or email pr@eaf.ie
Painting in the Noughties is an exhibition of abstract and semi-abstract paintings by leading artists, including Sean Scully, Jason Martin, Ian Davenport, Alexis Harding, Cecily Brown and Peter Davis amongst others. Wild Geese: The Irish in America will also be on display in the new Regional Cultural Centre daily for the duration of the festival. The Irish diaspora helped build nations and this exhibition looks at the creativity and artistry of descendents of the Wild Geese and Irish born artists in America.
So if you’re looking for entertainment and excitement, with world-class performances – then come visit Donegal and the Earagail Arts Festival!
Earagail Arts Festival is supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Failté Ireland, and Donegal County Council.
The 2007 festival is also supported by Udaras na Gaeltachta, Letterkenny Town Council, Colmcille, Interreg IIIA, Department of the Taoiseach, Ealain na Gaeltachta, Office of Public Works, EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and The Flight of the Earls.
For more information, please contact Meisoon Nasralla on +353 (0) 74 9168800 or email pr@eaf.ie or visit www.eaf.ie