Féile feast sees 100 venues host events over five days
IT’S that time of year again; as the summer beckons and the senses awaken, thoughts in Corca Dhuibhne turn to the ever exciting, ever exciting and always interesting Féile na Bealtaine and what surprises it may bring in 2015.
The arts and music festival has been at the heart of the Dingle Peninsula since its foundation by the late Dr Mícheál Fanning and a dedicated group of local volunteers 21 years ago.
Now in 2015, as the Féile celebrates those fiche h-aon bliain ag fás between April 30 and May 4, over 100 venues (yes, you read that correctly) across the Dingle Peninsula will host a frenetic schedule of all-encompassing events.
One could say that there is a depth and breadth of content which is not found in many other festivals nationally and year upon year it continues to attract the crowds to Corca Dhuibhne for its duration.
Irish rock outfit Delorentos will headline the musical line-up at Féile na Bealtaine this year; other musical highlights include a recital with pianist (of Kerry dúchas) Fiachra Garvey, the Vanburgh Quartet and Austrian fiddlers, Netnakisum.
Liam Ó Maonlaoi’s Ré, The Lost Brothers, R.S.A.G, Loah, Old Hannah and Hit Machine are among a long list of diverse performers also confirmed for this year’s Féile.
Poets and musicians will blend words and musical notes in the Dingle Peninsula during Féile na Bealtaine also. Among the writers attending this year are novelists Donal Ryan & Sara Baume and poets Doireann Ní Ghriofa & Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh.
Script-writer Conal Creedon and Haiku master Gabriel Rosenstock will find resonance on street corners and morning pubs while clowns, acrobats, jugglers and puppetry for kids are also set to bring plenty of Féile fun and frolics to the festival.
For many the highlight of the fiveday extravaganza will be the parade of street theatre which takes place on Sunday May 3. Artists, school children and craftspeople have spent a long, wet winter preparing in earnest for this parade and are currently putting finishing touches to lovingly-made props. The theme for this year’s street theatre is ‘children’s games’.
For those with a penchant for politics, Dingle’s District courthouse will host a series of talks with some Ireland’s visionaries and thinkers. In the dock this year will be journalists Kitty Holland, Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell, Deputy Lucinda Creighton as well as Joe Brolly, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Cian Ó Ciobháin, Roisin Ingle and Natasha Fennell.
New theatre highlights include ‘Charolais’; performed in the unlikely amphitheatre of Dingle Mart; ‘Chronicles of Oggle’ and Peter Sheridan’s ‘44 Seville Place’ at the Phoenix Cinema while Palestinian play ‘Bassam’ will be staged in the Beehive Theatre.
There will be Beckett inspired monologues in the Goat Street Café and Theatre Lovett will bring theatrical skills to schools around West Kerry.
Lovers of art, can enjoy the extraordinary sculptures made from recycled tyres by Mick Davis in Reasc; the tragic fate of thousands of infants buried in secret is explored in “Voices from the Cillín” a collaborative work by five artists from Scotland, Ireland and Holland.
Féile is also proud to present the debut exhibition from Studio 8 Contemporary the emerging Kerry artists collective as well as the first exhibition of Landscape Art in Ireland.
International Print Day will be celebrated on Saturday with a print workshop open to all.
Nüshu, the secret language from Hunan province in China is the inspiration for the collaboration between four artists living in different countries entitled ‘In the Post’.
New work by Liam O’Neill, Carol Cronin and Linda Ní hAiniféin will also be exhibited, as well as group and individual exhibitions.
As well as the annual short-film event there will also be screenings of Ron Rosenstock’s ‘ The Light Within’, the ‘Secret of Kells’ as Gaeilge as well as a Secret Cine Club taking place at an undisclosed location.
There will be sushi workshops mixed with haiku readings and dessert demonstrations with helpings of poetry along with meditation, yoga, dance, comedy with Eleanor Tiernon…the list literally goes on and on.
For those with any energy left there will be a 125km cycle around the stunning Dingle Peninsula and the annual dawn chorus at Gallarus Oratory.
For full details of all events, to see video of Féile performers, to download a programme or to purchase tickets, visit FeileNaBealtaine.ie.