Bealtaine Festival Sligo 2010 Event Listing
Bealtaine Sligo Events 2010_PDF - 1,030 kbs
Celebrating Creativity in Older Age
The Bealtaine Festival is an arts festival that specifically targets older people and it takes place throughout the month of May in various health care settings and community venues around the county. It is an Irish festival we can all be proud of which seeks to make our arts and cultural life truly inclusive of people no matter what their age.
The Bealtaine Festival provides you, the general public with the opportunity to see and hear the many ways that artists of any age can surprise, confront and delight us. With over 20 events taking place throughout the county you now have the opportunity to join in the storytelling events, attend musical afternoons, view locally made films, attend art exhibitions and experience the artwork that took place in day care centres and within active age and active retirement groups since May last year.
The festival is coordinated at national level by Age & Opportunity and funded by Sligo Borough Council, Sligo County Council, HSE West and the Arts Council of Ireland.
A highlight of this year’s festival is the screening of five film shorts “Seeing the Hidden” which explore the cultural wealth of our communities.
At the Film Première ‘Seeing the Hidden’ in Sligo’s Gaiety Cinema, Mayor Jim McGarry officially launched the first of many screenings of the films shorts that will take place around the county throughout the month of May. “It has been proven” he said “that participation in the arts is good for us – studies show enhanced morale and better health, particularly for older people involved in ongoing arts programmes with professional artists. This project uses film to uncover the culture of Sligo by celebrating the creativity of the people and the power of the landscape”.
The five film shorts feature five areas in Sligo; Killavil, Skreen, Ballinafad, the Gleniff Horseshoe Area and Sligo Harbour. The film shorts have been commissioned by Sligo Arts Service for Bealtaine Sligo 2010. Artists collaborating on the project are Filmmaker Caroline Clancy, Visual Artist Catherine Fanning, Writer & Poet Dermot Healy, Photographer James Fraher and Writer Maura Gilligan.
All screenings are free and open to the public of all ages. Running time for the film is thirty minutes with the film short for each area being approximately five minutes. Don’t miss the opportunity to catch these wonderful snapshots and visions of county Sligo on
- Friday 14th May at 7pm in McDermott’s Pub Castlebaldwin,
- Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th May, at 12 noon and 4pm in Teach Bán Nua Gallery, Drumcliffe, ,
- Sunday 23rd May at 3pm in the Benwiskin Centre in Ballintrillick, ,
- Wednesday 26th May at 1.30pm in the Ceili House in Killavill, Ballymote and finally on ,
- Thursday 27th May at 12.30pm in the Skreen Day Centre. ,
A copy of the film shorts will be made available to local Nursing Homes, Day Care Centres, Active Ages Groups and any interested groups who are unable to attend one of the screening events.
Other events in this year’s festival include a Bealtaine celebration in the Avalon Community Centre by the members of the Golden Years Arts & Health Group; Intergenerational Art Exhibitions in Keash Community Hall and in the Atrium Gallery, Nazareth House Nursing Home which will showcase the work created during the two years of both the Ballymote and the Nazareth House intergenerational art projects. These will be of interest to anyone who would like to find out more about such projects involving the elderly and young people.
Carrigans Health Centre in Maugherow will host an afternoon of stories and an exhibition of recent work by the older age group and the Catacombs celebrate the “Create & Craft Festival” from 11th – 14th May.
Staying with Maugherow, St Patrick’s National School opens its doors to the public for the screening of an animation film entitled “Constance Markievicz” which involved 77 students and the Maugherow Active Age Group who came together for the Legacy of Belief Intergenerational Arts Project supported through the Peace III programme.
Sligo Active Retirement Group will entertain you with poetry and music from the Sligo Academy of Music and the Orpheus Choir against a backdrop of paintings and craftwork in the Friary Hall on Tuesday 18 May at 2.30pm.
The Model invites you to a public talk with artist Barry Cooke on Tuesday 11 May and a studio talk with artist Sean McSweeney on Saturday 15th May. Booking essential on 071 914 1405.
Bealtaine is a time to socialise, to be entertained, to debate and connect across the generations, as well as to express yourself. All events are free and open to the public of all ages.
Bealtaine celebrates how important having a group or circle of friends is, how important it is to be able to have an association with the people around you, your community, where you live. It’s all part of feeling ownership, belonging or connection.
