ACCLAIMED IRISH singer-songwriter Mick Flannery is one of the main acts who will play the Inishbofin Community Arts Festival which runs from Friday May 7 to Sunday 9.
The festival will be launched by The Chieftains’ Kevin Conneff and there will be cheese and wine and trad music from young local musicians. The festival will have theatre, workshops, music, film, dance, and an archaeological walk.
Friday will see Mick Flannery and his band perform. Mick was recently voted best Irish songwriter and best in Irish Folk and Trad by Hot Press and last year he won the Best Male at the Meteor Awards.
Saturday begins with a reptile zoo exhibition which will feature a Caiman crocodile, a Tokay gecko, a chameleon, green anaconda, and an alligator snapping turtle. The public will be able to touch a red tegu lizard, hold a boa constrictor, or pet a bearded dragon!
There will be masterclasses in trad music with Kevin Conneff; a digital music and DJ technology workshop; and a film workshop which will involve making a ‘fly on the wall’ documentary of the festival.
Throughout Saturday and Sunday, interactive games such as archery, paint-ball, and mini-golf will be available. There will also be children’s workshops. A salsa dance workshop for all levels on Sunday. All workshops are on offer at €10/5.
An archaeological tour around the island also takes place on Saturday. On Saturday evening there will be a poetry reading by John Liddy; a performance of John B Keane’s Big Maggie by the Athlone Little Theatre group; and a concert by the internationally acclaimed modern trad/folk band The High Kings.
Screenings of local films will feature on Sunday evening. The winner of a Galway County Arts Award for excellence Inis Airc, Bás Oileáin tells the story of the community’s last years on Inishark and the evacuation of its last 25 inhabitants in 1960. The director Kieran Concannon is a local from Inishbofin.
The Letter and Island Air are two short films produced by Inishbofin film company, Onarock Productions. A DJ set of world music, hip hop, and jazz by Pulse FM’s Dan Sykes will follow.
Inishbofin Community Arts Festival will come to a close with The Late Late Show house band, formerly known as The Camembert Quartet.
For more information and full details on all events see www.inishbofin.com
