Clonmel Junction Festival provides a platform for emerging talent
Highlights of the festival include a performance from Muireann Bradley, the hit Edinburgh Fringe show The Horse of Jenin, and Distillation by Luke Casserly
The Clonmel Junction Arts Festival was about bringing people together and providing an opportunity for artists to showcase their talents, Rebecca Lenehan, Artistic Director told invited guests at the launch of the festival brochure last Thursday night.
The Clonmel Junction Arts Festival will take place between July 3rd and July 12th and the colourful and informative brochure details the extraordinary array of events to be held in the town over the ten day festival.
At the launch at the festival headquarters in the Showgrounds, Rebecca Lenehan encouraged the public to pick up a copy of the brochure which will be available all over the town.
Rebecca Lenehan thanked the funders without whom the festival would not exist, including long-term funder Camida, the Arts Council and Tipperary County Council.
She praised the contribution of stakeholders from Clonmel, Cahir, and Carrick-on-Suir and praised a dedicated team of volunteers.
She welcomed back artist Tom Campbell,who she said, brought a lot of joy to the festival last year, and his mask painting workshops from the Junction resident artists were proving to be very popular in the build up to the festival.
The festival will open with The Seven Rivers of the Sun, a procession of light through the town on Friday July 3rd at 10pm. During the procession the Landscape Theatre Company LUXE will celebrate the journey of our solar system.
Highlights of the festival include a performance from Muireann Bradley, the hit Edinburgh Fringe show The Horse of Jenin, and Distillation by Luke Casserly.
The programme also features David Geraghty, FeliSpeaks, Paul Howard with Alan Clarke and Barbarian by Bob Kelly and Diarmuid Armstrong alongside new work from other artists.
Youth participation is central to the festival with workshops, exhibitions, and free family events, and throughout the festival, there will be a 60-metre installation transforming Mitchell Street, resulting from a community engagement project with Annie Hogg.
The brochure was launched by TD Michael Murphy, who said youth engagement and providing a platform for emerging talent were at the heart of the festival. He paid tribute to the festival team and the directors of the festival, and the many volunteers involved.