This article is from page 32 of the 2008-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 32 JPG
MAKING banners for a Banner fes- tival is what youngsters are up to this week in Mountshannon.
Weve @ barca busCe(oJmmmatom sColiOVGUU MBB ITO MELOr tion of artists Nicola Henley and Melanie Jones, are twenty school children aged between nine and 12 from Mountshannon and Whitegate.
Their job is to prepare the silk- screen printed banners which will adorn the streets of the village for the up-coming Iniscealtra Festival of the Art from May 23 to June 1.
“They’re making a very fine job of it – the banners are beautiful and we look forward to seeing them hung for the festival,” said Nicola.
The banners will have plenty to
shout about this year as the festival has a programme full of spectacle and colour with something for eve- ryone.
The official opening of the week long festival by Theo Dorgan, re- nowned poet, writer, broadcaster and member of Aosdana and the Arts Council takes place on May 24.
With music, drama and dance per- formances from local and visiting eroups, some of the highlights of this year’s festival include musical performances by Eoin O’Neill, Orla Harrington and John Feely to name Ulm: IB AYA
There will be film night, a free storytelling family event and an art exhibition which will be opened by well known artist Charles Harper.
The Fishbowl Youth Group will present an acoustic evening of enter- tainment; music, poetry, prose and dance in a candle-lit café style set- ting. Visiting German students and young people from The Alfa Project school will work with artists to cre- ate a sculptural riverside installation for the festival on the river bank from Scariff Harbour to Lough Derg.
Also planned are a ceili with The Four Courts Ceili Band, weekend classes and workshops in sean nos dancing, traditional music and sing- ing and adding some cultural variety, an African drumming workshop.
Also being launched during the festival is ‘Does It Grow Corn?’, the feasibility study to determine the need for a new community/arts cen-
tre for Mountshannon.
One of the most unusual events will be the family boat building course. Families – or groups – get to build a real wooden boat over the bank holi- day weekend and then take it home. The boats will be assembled from pre-cut kits under the supervision of two experienced boat builders. All the boats made will be launched at the harbour, communally, at the end of the weekend.
More details of the line up of events will feature in