Kilkenny Arts Festival has once again taken the city and county by storm and enticed the masses to the area over the last week or so.
It is wonderful to see the crowds thronging around the city seeking out art exhibitions, street entertainment, musical and theatrical shows and readings. And they have not been disappointed. The street theatre has been riveting with ponydance entertaining the crowds both young and old on the Parade and on the Canal Bank Square. There have been tears of laughter and embarrassment and people have left the square vowing to never return again if ponydance are within 100km of the area! If you haven’t yet seen these guys — you can catch them indoors in Cleeres Theatre on Saturday night and in the Set Theatre on Sunday night. They are well worth a look but they are not for the faint-hearted so if you’re easily embarrassed they may not be for you!
Of course the knock-on effect of the arts festival to business is not to be sniffed at. This is probably the busiest week of the year for most of the businesses around town and many depend on this time of year being the ‘bumper’ time in order to get them through the quiet months of January to March. Thankfully it looks like this has been the case.
The black and amber train that takes visitors and locals alike around the town and to our historical sites is packed to capacity, the tour guides are out in their droves explaining to foreigners about St Canice and the Butlers, and the shops, cafes, restaurants and bars are busy. Kilkenny is at its very best at this time of year and even mixed weather doesn’t get in the way of people having a good time.
For those who have yet to get out to an arts festival event, there are still tickets available for several gigs and shows over the weekend. We have a report in The Week on page 16 this week with some of the available shows.
In Shootin’ the Breeze this week, Sam Matthews speaks with Colm Toibin in an insightful interview with the legendary writer who has coordinated the literature strand of Kilkenny Arts Festival for the past few years. He talks about New York and what seems like his love/hate relationship with the city that never sleeps. (see pg 12. )
He helped launch the festival with Minister Brendan Howlin last week and his promotion of the arts and this particular festival, is vital to our bid to keep this festival afloat on an annual basis. This is vital for more reasons than one.
So go out and enjoy the last of this year’s event. And once again count your lucky stars that you live in such a lovely, lively county like Kilkenny!
