Lots happening today for culture night
Offaly takes part in Culture Night for the fourth time today, with lots happening around the county so be sure to check out some of the great events.
The night of free events that celebrates culture, creativity and the arts began in Dublin in 2006, and arrived in Offaly in 2011.
This year there are 27 events including puppet shows, storytelling and a comedy night set to be staged on the night in five castles and venues in Birr, Tullamore, Edenderry, Lough Boora, Daingean, Rhode and Moneygall.
“A lot of rural Culture Night programmes, like Offaly, don’t have a lot of venues,” Offaly arts officer Sinead O’Reilly explained. “But we have a lot of fantastic spaces that are great for performances and events and we use those resources.”
Events taking place on the night that’s funded by both Offaly County Council and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht are all free. Some need to be booked in advance, while walk-ins are welcome at all others.
Offaly’s Culture Night will include both local performers and those from further afield. Some to note include internationally acclaimed storyteller Jack Lynch, renowned jazz guitarist Nigel Clark and co-writer and co-star of ‘The Savage Eye’ John Colleary.
“You can do more than one thing because of the way the events are staggered,” Sinead added. “Particularly in Tullamore, you could fit in four or five things on the night if you wanted.”
Comhaltashas a number of events scheduled.
In Tullamore the local branch will entertain the visitors staff and patients in the foyer of the general hospital from 7.30pm onwards with music, song and dance.
Killeigh branch will present an evening of classic traditional tunes in the library in Tullamore at 6pm on the same day.
Rahan branch will celebrate the occasion in the elegant surroundings of Charleville Castle with a great night of music song and craic at 8.30pm. But do come early as spaces are at a premium.
Meantime, in the south county at Leap Castle, Clareen, Birr, there is ceol and craic in the castle with Sean Ryan on whistle, Ciara Callinan Ryan on harp and dance accompanied by Conor Moriarty on accordion and Conor Harnett on drums at 8pm. Booking is essential on 057 9357400.
In Rhode the local Comhaltas branch is presenting its programme of traditional music in Ballybryan School at 8.30pm and all are welcome to attend free of charge.
In Birr as part of the Culture Night celebrations there will be a dance performance at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre by contemporary dance artist Katja Heitmann who is currently taking part in a dance residency in Birr.
The dance residency has been made possible by a ‘Studiotrade’ residency exchange between Legitimate Bodies Dance Company in Ireland and DansBrabant in The Netherlands. She has working with Dublin-based dance artist Deirdre Griffin since September 6.
Today there will be a performance sharing at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre at 2pm as part of Culture Night. Katja says: ”We are streaming our lives. We try to capture the here and now in photos and movies, we copy, paste and photoshop until we get a ‘realer than live’ version of reality. But, what is ‘live’? We can always and everywhere acces the ‘cloud’ in which we upload our digital alter-egos. The flatscreen in which we view them is always live.”
The full Culture Night programme is available at www.offaly.ie. Updates can also be found on the ‘Culture Night Offaly’ Facebook page.