Béal Festival 2012 is a festival of new music and poetry. The whole festival takes place over three days (Nov 7th – 9th) in the Banquet Hall at Smock Alley. The format is open-plan, trying wherever possible to allow different aesthetics and approaches to rub against each other. Featured composers include: Robert Ashley and Tom Johnson with a European première of Ashley’s recent opera World War III as well as a newly-commissioned work by Johnson for vocal ensemble. The festival features a wild multiplicity of creative approaches to text and music. There are works with both projected and performed text, Carnatic text-based improvisation, phonetic games, poetry read through resonant objects and readings by poets from the experimental wing of Irish poetry.
Five years into the global financial and economic crisis, what have we learned from the success and otherwise of the attempts to solve it? This is where Kilkenomics comes in. Moderated by some of our brightest and funniest standup comedians, Kilkenomics – Europe’s first economics festival – puts economists, financial analysts, journalists and other specialists on stage and under the spotlight to talk through important issues such as the future of the euro, the debt crisis, taxation and natural resources and the environment among others. The comedians give permission to a wider audience to attend the events and they have the ability to simplify big ideas and make them more accessible. It’s serious, but it’s fun too.
The Allingham Arts weekend has been a feature of the cultural calendar in Ballyshannon since the 1970s. The ideal of cultivating writing as an art form has been central to the weekend since that time. More recently fine art had been added to the programme as a feature of the weekend. Contributors such as Dermot Healy and Frank Galligan were part of the line up of the weekend. They established the foundation for the literary aspect of the weekend. A mixture of music, talks, readings and workshops provided the backbone of the festival. One section of the weekend always provided entertainment for children. Magicians and Art workshops
Sligo International Choral Festival is one of Ireland’s top choral festival, and sees choirs from all over Ireland and abroad converge on Sligo to compete in competitions in a dizzying array of musical styles. There are all sorts of choirs – male, female, mixed, youth, large and small, young and, um, less young! – singing everything from sacred music to barbershop. Competitions are hotly contested and there is invariably some wonderful singing to be enjoyed. As well as competitions there are workshops and master classes for both adult and youth chiors. There is a grand concert on the opening night, a festival club runs each night and on one day of the festival choirs take to the streets, pubs and shopping centres of Sligo to entertain the crowds. On Sunday there are choirs singing at services in every church in the town.
This year will bring the 6th annual film festival to Waterford. For the second year running there will be a focus on the promotion of short films allowing the festival to cram in even more entertainment for its ever appreciative audience. Short fiction and documentaries may enter towin the Best Short Film Award while the Best Screenplay Award is open for un-filmed short films. Culture junkies wont want to miss this three-day event that takes place at the Waterford Municipal Art Gallery.
The Corona Cork Film Festival is Irelands oldest film festival and is now in it’s 54th year. The festival offers film lovers a weeklong programme of events which includes big budget films, world cinema, independent films, international documentaries, special film events an Irish showcase and short films from all around the world. Over 30,000 people attend this festival annually to view over 300 films in venues all over Cork City.
Now in its 12th year, the CAMRA backed Belfast Beer and Cider Festival will begin on November 17th, and run across the weekend, with the aim of championing the cause to make good beer more available for everyone in our part of the world. For three days, Ulster Hall will become the biggest bar in Ireland, and, if you’re a foodie or beer lover, it’s truly an unmissable event.
Now celebrating its sixth anniversary, the Bulmers Comedy Festival at O’Keeffes Clonmel will host its biggest and best line-up to date with more than 20 world class comedians set to tickle the ribs. You can expect thrills and belly laughs and exceptional value for money as the world’s top comedians ensure Clonmel is the funniest hotspot on the planet in November. The Bulmers Comedy Festival has grown to become a major event on the comedy circuit in Ireland. The hottest acts of the Edinburgh Fringe will be coming to Clonmel with the very best stand up talent in Ireland. This is a festival not to be missed with all details on the website.
