The Cúirt International Festival of Literature, which was to run from April 20 to 25, will not take place “in its physical form this year” owing to the coronavirus lockdown and restrictions.
A number of scheduled events, including headline readings, the Eilís Dillon centenary activities, and the Creative Europe project activity, have been postponed until later in the year, with details of the new dates to be announced in the coming days and weeks.
The festival is also “exploring alternative ways to bring authors voices to audiences”, in place of a physical festival.
In a statement, the Cúirt said: “Author events in particular may be possible to replicate in a digital environment and we want to do everything we can to support artists and audiences.” Cúirt also said it has committed to making an honorarium payment to all authors contracted for the festival, whose events are cancelled.Members of the public who purchased tickets for festival events, should contact the Town Hall Theatre on [email protected] to receive a full refund or alternatively, donate the value of one or more of the tickets to Cúirt as a gesture of support.
“This will be a very difficult time for most people in the creative sector,” said the festival. “Any ticket prices donated to the festival will go towards the payment of honoraria for our writers.”
Cúit said it was taking these actions to ensure “the safety of our authors and audiences”. In its statement, it added: “To everyone who has put this festival together including our partners, staff and all the authors we were so excited to welcome to Galway this year, we are heartily sorry, but hope you will understand that we must do our part in helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
