‘Award helped us focus on a whole community approach’
FÉILE na Bealtaine’s committee reflects on its 2014 Kerry Community Award success, the last time the awards were staged.... AN indication of just how significant and enriching the Kerry Community Awards are is evident in the way it was received by Féile na Bealtaine, who were the last winners of the competition back in 2014. Three years later and the restoration of these awards have also managed to revive memories of an accolade so deserving for a cultural arts organisation committed to enhancing the heritage of the Dingle Peninsula in a vibrant and positive fashion.
Dr Peader Ó Fionnáin is a committee member with Féile na Bealtaine and he recently spoke to us about what it meant to win the Kerry Community Award. “We won the Kerry Community Award’s Overall Prize in 2014 and this was the first time an arts organisations had won the overall prize. For us this amounted to recognition that the arts have a real role in the community. We are very familiar with the importance of, for example, social services in the community, but this award also demonstrated that the arts have a tangible role in community development.
“This was a generous prize by our standards and a welcome cash boost that gave us an opportunity to further enhance the many positives of Féile na Bealtaine.
“There are three fundamental points to this award. Firstly, the arts have a function in the community in that it brings people together and provides a focus. Secondly, the prize was very valuable to Féile na Bealtaine as it allowed us to increase our spending on the arts and to stage future festivals - this aspect is of immense value to the organisation. Thirdly, recognition from the community reminds us of the importance of focusing on the whole community, from four-year-olds to people who might never think about going to an arts festival.
“This prize was hugely important to Féile na Bealtaine in terms of the financial injection it gave and the recognition for the work of a voluntary committee who work tirelessly to put together what is one of the premier arts festivals in the country.”
THIS PRIZE WAS HUGELY IMPORTANT TO FÉILE NA BEALTAINE IN TERMS OF THE FINANCIAL INJECTION IT GAVE AND THE RECOGNITION FOR THE WORK OF A VOLUNTARY COMMITTEE...