Feast of free fun for Culture Night
COUNTY Wexford will come alive for Culture Night on September 21 with a feast of free events including musical performances, dance, theatre, art, film, storytelling and even yarn-bombing.
The Gorey based artist and curator Richard Carr who recently had a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in London, has been named as Wexford’s 2018 regional Culture Night Ambassador, acting as a local advocate for the event.
‘Wexford is a county that treasures its communities, welcomes its visitors and celebrates its diversity and all of this will be showcased on Culture Night. At the heart of every cultural landscape there has to be a focus on artists and cultural practitioners and Wexford is beginning to lead in this field’, said Richard.
COUNTY WEXFORD EVENTS • A Culture Slam will take place at Enniscorthy Castle from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. in conjunction with Wexford Literary Festival with performances by writers, poets, singers, dancers and playwrights across all genres including John Paul O’Reilly and Maura Flannery.
• At the Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy visitors can view a mixed media exhibition by Kate Tyrrell who has used natural materials to capture the beauty of the sea in a frame. Children’s art workshops related to the exhibition will take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. All ages are welcome.
• Hook Lighthouse will remain open late for Culture night with free guided tours at 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Places must be booked in advance on www.hookheritage. As you climb the steps to the medieval lighthouse tower, you will meet various costumed characters including St. Dubhán who kept watch over seafarers in the 5th century, the ‘greatest knight that ever lived’ William Marshall and the man behind the construction of the ancient tower while enjoying breathtaking views of the south east coastline and listening to real-life stories about what life was like on a lonely lighthouse. • Contemporary Irish artist Erin O’Connor is inviting culture vultures to his Art Box Gallery in Esmonde Street, Gorey to view live painting demonstrations from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Gorey Art Collective in St. Michael’s Place, a newly-established studio space for local artists where members work alongside artists with disabilities from the Camphill Community, is hosting an open night from Open studio night from 7 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. Artworks will be on display and members of the public can have a chat with the artists who created them. Artist Kate Kos will give a demonstration of watercolour techniques and artist Sara Redmond, owner of Different Strokes Artshop will encourage visitors to make their mark using various mediums from acrylic paint to pastels on a large stretched canvas to display in the window of her shop. • Gorey School of Art in St. Michael’s Place, Mill Lands is offering free workshops in radio (with Mayte Gonzalez and Tony McGuinness), printmaking (with Andrea McCorry), an art history taster class (with Nicola Doyle) and childrens art and crafts (with Shannon O’Bracken) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. along with a film screening in their state-of-the-art cinema. Advance booking essential. St. Michael’s Road, Mill Lands, Gorey.
• The Book Cafe in Gorey is hosting an evening of music, poetry and readings from 6.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. on the Main Street in Gorey.
• An evening of readings and music will take place in Gorey Visitor Centre from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. along with the launch of Irish author Nuala O’ Connor’s latest novel ‘ Becoming Belle’. Local author Sheila Forsey will read from her first novel ‘Mending Lace’ which was published last year and music will be provided by by Anne Colgan. • Traditional music sessions will be held at the Loch Garman Arms and French’s Bar in Gorey. • Culture night visitors are invited to view a free screening of the opening night film ‘Another News Story’ at the sixth annual Documentary Film Festival in the Stella Maris Centre in Kilmore Quay from 7.30 p.m. to 10 p.m., including a post-screening talk with the filmmaker Orban Wallace and a panel of speakers and an opening night reception.
• In Wexford town, Tara McGinn will present an audio visual installation at the Light and Shadow Studio in 24 Selskar Street. about the potential of unused space including derelict sites, empty shops and blank billboards. Tara is a graduate of the Wexford Campus School of Art and Design and is currently completing a Master of Fine Art at the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University.
• Wexford County Council’s new new Creative Hub at the Bullring Mall will officially open its doors on Culture Night with an exciting selection of pop-up performances. 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Public access is from Mallin Street or the Main Street. • Riff Raff Theatre will perform their new play TripXtych on the streets of Wexford town for Culture Night - an oudoor comedy based on being out of work, homeless, unwell and female. Performances in the Bullring at 4.45 p.m., Selskar Square at 5.30 p.m. and beside Wexford Arts Centre at 8.30 p.m.. • Wexford Drama Group will make a return visit to Wexford Library for a performance of an excerpt from the Plough and the Stars by Sean O’Casey at 4.30 p.m.
• Ceoltóiri Loch Garman and the Sarah Sullivan Academy of Irish Dancing will presnt an evening of traditional music, song and dance at The Bullring from 6.45 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. • The nine-piece acapella chamber choir Valda, will perform at Selskar Abbey from 7.30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Wexford Ladies Choir will present a selection of songs from popular musicals, church musicals and other well-known pieces in St. Iberius Church from 7 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
• Red Moon Creative Arts will present ‘Grainne’s Garden’, an interactive family show for the very young and the young at heart in performances at 5.15 p.m. and 6.15 p.m. in the Bullring.
• The Wexford School of Ballet and Performing Arts will showcase the work of students in a performance at the National Opera House from 5.45 p.m. to 6.15 p.m.
• Members of the Sheila Grace Dance Company will perform various dance styles in Selskar Square from 6 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., including hip-hop, jazz, musical theatre and lyrical dance ahead of a performance on the Disneyland stage in October. • Students from the Wexford Campus of the Irish College of Music Theatre in the National Opera House will present scenes from My Fair Lady, Wicked, Beauty and the Beast, Matilda, Annie and the Titanic from 6.15 p.m. to 6.45 p.m. in the Opera House.
• Traditional Irish harp player Mollie Carroll (13), a member of the County Wexford harp Ensemble will give a solo outdoor performance in the grounds of Selskar Abbey at 7 p.m.
• The Quay Notes community choir which performs songs from all over the world, will present a sample selection in the national Opera House from 7.15 p.m. to 7.45 p.m..
• Oyster Lane Theatre Group will present a sneak preview of their October 2018 production Michael Collins a Musical Drama at the Ballast Bar in the Talbot Hotel at 7.30 p.m. • Students of Discovering Drama will perform a 20-minute play at the National Opera House at 5.15 p.m., taking a look at 21st century communication. • The 77-year old Wexford Male Voice Choir will perform pieces from their vast repertoire at 7.30 p.m. in St. Iberius Church. • Wexford Sinfonia will perform light chamber music with a mixture of duets, quartets and larger string groups on a range of orchestral instruments from 6.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in St. Iberius Church.
• In the National Opera House from 8.15 to 8.45 p.m., contemporary dancer Deirdre Grant, accompanied by composer/guitarist Nick Day will showcase a new avant garde dance work shaped around Lewis Carroll’s poetry with songs and dance/ soundscapes inspired by his writings of ‘Alice.
• The six-part female acapella group Credo will perform in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rowe Street from 8.30 p.m. to 9 p.m., singing a variety of secular and non-secular music.
• The Loch Garman Band will perform in Selskar Abbey, entertaining with a selection of popular film music from James Bond, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and more, from 8 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.. Saxophone quartet Saxology will play a selection of jazz, classical and pop arrangements in St. Iberius Church from 8.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.. • Wexford Studio Theatre will present Hello Johnny, a oneman one act play at the National Opera House, taking a look at mental health and the use of psychotropic drugs, from 8.45 p.m. to 9.15 p.m. • Stagefrights will present a concert of well-known popular songs arranged to be sung acapella with layers of harmony and vocal percussion, from 8 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. in St. Iberius Church. • In a yarn-bombing initiative, the Access community education programme’s knitting and crochet group will decorate the Selskar area and Selskar Abbey with hand-made creations from 4.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. while Wexford Craftism will add a similar splash of colour to the Bullring from 4 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. A weaving demonstration will be given by Doreen Ryan who recently returned from a residency exploring back strap weaving processes in Mexico.