Gorey’s feminist mini festival a hit
A feminist cultural mini festival which took place in Gorey to mark St Brigid’s Day was a great success. The festival was also celebrated in connection with the Mary Fitzgerald Award programme.
The series of events, associated with the global Herstory Light Festival, included a charity gig by local band The Mistakes, a performance by Denis Kehoe telling the story of Mary Fitzgerald, and a panel discussion on building an educational system for all.
It all began at Gorey’s Market House, where a packed out crowd enjoyed a very special performance of ‘Dear Mary’ as well as a group exhibition.
Taking part in this was Cathy Dorman, Denis Kehoe, Michaella Nash, Phoebe Kelly McDonell, Emma Battlebury and Linda McCann.
Organiser David Monaghan described being shocked by the level of interest in this type of artistic event.
‘The Market House was packed out, and a lot had travelled down from Dublin to be there.
‘From the opening night, we had a huge amount of interest and engagement. But it goes beyond that to the number of people locally who are interested in the idea of community art and performance art. The role of arts in the social world, the event showed that there’s a great appetite for it’.
Organisers would like to that Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District and District Manager Michael Drea for the support, as well as performer Denis Kehoe, as well as The Mistakes for the charity gig that took place in Katie Daly’s.
The event was part of building momentum for the first annual Mary Fitzgerald award, which has now closed its application process having received a targeted number of entries.
The founders hope to start the interview process within the next couple of weeks for successful applicants.
In the meantime, there’s hope that another festival like Constellations might take place again next year.
‘It might take on a different format, but we’d love to expand it and find a committee. The ideal would be to find a festival that goes beyond the norm, around the time of January or February to host a mini festival. But we are definitely committed to working with Herstory in the future,’ said David Monaghan.