What is Cruinniú na nÓg?
Revealing the origins and aims of this cultural celebration
CRUINNIÚ na nÓg is an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme, a five-year all-ofGovernment initiative, from 2017 to 2022, to place creativity at the centre of public policy.
It is a new national day of creativity for children and young people, taking place on June 23, 2018 in every county in Ireland. It aims to celebrate and encourage children and young people’s participation in culture and creativity through art, music, coding and theatre workshops, performances, exhibitions, readings, film screenings and much more.
So where did the idea for Cruinniú na nÓg come from? Perhaps, surprisingly, it came from the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Rising, in which children and young people played a central and crucial role, through their schools, communities and families.
The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme caught the imagination of our young citizens and led to an explosion of creativity in dance, theatre, story-telling, art, music, poetry and pageantry.
It is no exaggeration to say that it was the active engagement and creative expression of children and young people that made 2016 a really special time in our recent history. In this context, the Creative Ireland Programme that emerged as a legacy of the centenary celebrations aims to harness that creativity and active citizenship.
Last year saw the first Cruinniú na Cásca event, which showcased culture and creativity in Dublin and around the country as part of Easter weekend. In 2018, it was decided to build on that idea but with a focus on active participation of children and young people. Thus the idea for Cruinniú na nÓg was born.
Cruinniú na nÓg is also a key action in Creative Youth — a plan to enable the creativity of every child and young person, published in December 2017. This plan reaches across the formal and non-formal education systems, with the aim of ensuring that all of our children receive an all-of-life cultural and creative education.
Cruinniú na nÓg is both a symbol and a practical expression of that ambition. It is a national initiative but with local activation — it’s a ground-up, organic approach to engaging our young people with creative activity across all genres. This initiative is being rolled out by the Culture Teams within each Local Authority across the country as part of the Creative Ireland Programme.
Through Cruinniú na nÓg, we are recognising the crucial importance of culture and creativity in the lives of all of our children.
We want children and young people to become creative citizens — to do this we need to afford every possible opportunity for creativity. This is why Cruinniú na nÓg is all about participation — what you can make, create, see and try. It’s about the adventure and magic of creative expression for all of our children and young people.
Check it out in your area and get involved #mycruinniu.