Athlone Castle is one of a number of venues that will feature special events for Westmeath Culture Night on Friday September 19.
Athlone Pipe Band will play in the castle courtyard 6.45-7.15pm. That will be followed by a performance of Athlone A Cappella from 7.30-8pm. As this is an outdoor event, it is weather dependent. The castle will have free admission from 5-8pm to celebrate Culture Night.
Other interesting events in Athlone include a drop in workshop for children at the Luan Gallery, poetry in the gallery, a mixed media exhibition at the Dean Crowe Theatre, which will be followed by Culture Crowes involving poets and musicians from near and far.
The Little Museum of Memories will host an evening of entertainment from 4pm onwards with Irish dancers Celtic Blondes, singing, and storytelling.
At the Aidan Heavy Library there will be exhibition of the work by Athlone Arts Group, while Shambles Artists Studios at Áras Bríd will be open to the public all day showcasing the work and workspaces of residents artists Catherine Rock, Ann McGuinness, Lawrence O’Neill, Margo McNulty, Simon Healy, Veronica Nicholson, and Lesley Wingfield.
Throughout the county more than 30 events will take place to celebrate Culture Night 2014 with something of interest for every taste from guided walks, art displays, poetry readings, drama performances, storytelling, photographic exhibitions, harp recitals, classical music, traditional music, and literary readings, as well as events as different as cake sculpturing and a haunted walk.
Westmeath arts officer Miriam Mulrennan says of Culture Night, “It’s a day and night with so many perspectives. There is the lens of the new audience, people who have not perhaps been in the venues on their doorstep - and this is an invitation to remedy that. It is also about a ground-up day and night of cultural experiences. By this I mean that many of the events are organised directly by the arts community themselves, musicians, writers, dancers, visual artists - organise events, workshops, exhibitions, and in doing so showcase their work in a way that is not always visible.”
