CRUINNIÚ NA NÓG IS GOING VIRTUAL FOR 2020
FOR the past two years Ireland’s national day of creativity for young people has seen hundreds of free events staged across the country, with everything from singing workshops, modern dance and printmaking on offer for eager young minds.
And this year’s Cruinniú na nÓg is set to provide even more fun activities for the under 18s. Held on Saturday June 13, the 2020 event will be held online, featuring a range of virtual seminars for the whole family to enjoy.
There will be 17 individual events taking place in County Wexford, four interactive online workshops which require advance booking and 13 all-day events which can be accessed throughout the day.
The workshops requiring advanced booking are the ‘Mini Maestros Early Years Music Workshop’, which takes place from 10.30-11 a.m. on Saturday June 13 (to book please email musicgenerationwexford@wwetb.ie), the ‘Zoom to Record Workshop’, which will give young people a better understanding of what’s involved in the recording process and takes place from 12-1 p.m. (email musicgenerationwexford@wwetb.ie),the High Street Opera Zoom for children aged 8-14 takes place from 2-3 p.m. (email musicgenerationwexford@ wwetb.ie), and The Virtual Seomra Traidisiúnta Workshop which will be held between 3-4 p.m. (email traditionalarchivechannel@gmail.com to book a place).
In addition to these scheduled events The National Heritage Park will present A Viking Journey, a film exploring Viking culture, including their beliefs and customs and how they prepared for battle. Jack Matthews wrote, and stars in, this production along with Willow Brodie Hayes.
Paul Carter, from Gorey School of Art, will host a Mind Mapping Workshop; his journey begins with a piece of fruit found in his fridge and will help children to develop creative, non-linear ways of thinking.
For their Online Traditional Song Workshop, Aileen Lambert and her daughter Nellie (10) have recorded their own original song about two sisters and their two pet pigs. Viewers will be encouraged to sing along with the duo and subtitles will be on-screen as they break the song down line by line.
‘My mammy and I learned this song from the singer
Paddy Berry,’ Nellie says. ‘I have been singing this song for a number of years. I like it because its nice and lively and it has a nice air. Also the song is fun to sing. Now you can learn and sing it too because of the video we made for Cruinniú na nÓg. I hope you enjoy it.’
Aileen said that by involving her daughter in the creative process she was able to make the video more child-centred.
‘We’ve paced the delivery of the song so that it is easy to learn; first Nellie sings the verse for you to listen to it, then we teach it line by line and finish by singing it through from beginning to end - all helped by the subtitles which appear. It’s almost a traditional song karaoke.’
All these events can be accessed on www.creativeireland.gov.ie from the morning of Saturday, June 13. Please visit the website for more information on how to book events. The Cruinniú na nÓg team would love to see what you created or hear how you enjoyed the day. Any photos, videos or feedback can be emailed to cruinniunanogwexford@gmail.com and gift bags will be posted to the most creative entries.