Something for everyone at Cruinniú Na nÓg on June 23
ON Saturday, June 23 a new national day of culture will take place for children called ‘Cruinniú na nÓg’.
The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Declan Hurley stated: “Cork County Council is delighted through its Culture Team (consisting of Library, Arts, Irish, Tourism and Heritage Services) to support this programme where a whole range of activities will take place in each of County Cork’s eight Municipal Districts that focus on children and young people of all walks of life”.
The aim of the day is to maximise activity based participation, i.e. children and young people ‘doing’, ‘making’, and ‘creating’. From a talk on the Forgotten Wisdom of Trees and a day of cultural activities for children in the Regional Park, Ballincollig, to a whole suite of Library events (including story-telling, workshops and puppet shows in such Libraries as Mallow, Dunmanway, Bandon, Youghal, Macroom and Newmarket), there will be something for all the family and throughout the County, on Saturday 23rd next.
The full list of activities scheduled for the day in County Cork will be available to see on https://creative. ireland.ie/cruinniu/ as well as the heritage events section of www. corkcoco.ie/arts-heritage/. For further information on the day and the Creative Ireland Programme as a whole email creative.ireland@corkcoco.ie.
A number of events scheduled to take place for Cruinniú na nÓg are being financially supported by the Creative Ireland County Cork Grant Scheme, the recipients of which have only been announced this week. In 2017 31 fantastic projects were supported through the Scheme and 2018 sees a 45% increase in the number of successful projects, with over €65,000 being allocated to 45 different projects, events and initiatives right throughout the County including a number of Cultural pop-up Shops.
Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Declan Hurley has noted that ‘ these projects supported by the Scheme truly demonstrate the enthusiasm, commitment and dedication within the County of Cork by people from all different groups and communities, in supporting and promoting the wonderful culture that exists. The Creative Ireland Programme has been warmly welcomed here in County Cork and these projects will enhance the cultural offering of the County even further’.
The 45 applications cover each of the five Creative Ireland Strands and will see projects in each and every Municipal District. From projects supporting Irish language and culture to projects focusing on youthful educational projects and performances and inter-generational projects, there is a great variety of activities set to take place. The Arts, Heritage, Tourism, Irish and the County’s Cultural Literacy will all benefit as a result and Cork County Council’s Chief Executive Tim Lucey has commended Cork County Council’s Culture Team and their support and promotion of culture within the County, under the direction of Mary Ryan, Director of Municipal District Operations and Rural Development.
From a cultural perspective one of the highlights of the year is National Heritage Week, which this year takes place from 18 – 26 August. Over 120 events have already been registered online, taking place all around the County, including such places in North and Mid- Cork as Ballineen, Inchigeela, Buttevant, Doneraile, Kilmurry, Ballincollig, Blarney, Macroom, Carrigadrohid, Lombardstown and Inniscarra. Community Groups are all encouraged to get involved this year, particularly as 2018 is the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
All events registered online via www.heritageweek.ie by June 29th will feature in the County Cork Heritage Week Events Guide and it is hoped that 2018 will indeed see a wonderful line-up and number of events.
In terms of upcoming events this weekend sees the annual Cork Summer Show, taking place in Curraheen, just west of Cork City, on Saturday and Sunday 16-17 June from 09:00 to 18:00 both days. The Show has been running for over 200 years since 1806 and last year, generated a crowd of over 50,000 over the two days.
The event will see a great range of activities, stalls and events and Cork County Council, who are the main sponsors of the event, will have a number of its sections provide exhibits and information including Arts, the Library Service, Tourism, Heritage and the Fire Service to name but a few. Let’s hope it is a fine weekend weather-wise for what is always a mighty fine event.