Clonmel Applefest will set out to celebrate a sense of place

Clonmel Applefest has been busy devising and developing projects over the last few months, the first glimpses of which can be seen across the public realm in the coming weeks.

At the start of the month, Clonmel Applefest hosted its first ‘Tea in the Park’ event which brought together participants from the ‘Our Sense of Place’ project. This original initiative matched 14 local writers with 14 International residents in an attempt to share their immigration stories and bring together locals and incomers.
The writers group includes some well-known members of Clonmel’s writing community as well as several newcomers, while the immigrant cohort comprises people from 8 different countries including Poland, Egypt, Pakistan and Ukraine, as well as natives of South Africa, Nigeria, Moldova and India. This diverse group came together in a socially distanced, open-air picnic on Sunday 1st August to meet each other and some of the Applefest team in person, as much of the project has been conducted via Zoom. The result of this project will be unveiled as the opening event of the festival in late September with the launch of a handsome publication of texts combined with photographs by John D. Kelly.
Another event to look forward to is the Heritage & Biodiversity Day which will take place from 11am to 4pm on Saturday 21st August in the beautiful surroundings of Denis Burke Park. The Applefest Team will be hosting a series of family-friendly workshops and activities, ranging from willow weaving to music-making and bunting painting. Other offerings will include sweep netting along the river with Louise Garcia, hosted by Suircan Environmental, and the painting of a community 3mural on the theme of Clonmel wildlife and wildflowers under the supervision of artist Brigid Teehan, hosted by Clonmel Tidy Towns. To register for the music making or river sweep netting sessions, please email clonmelapplefest@gmail.com. All other activities will be run on a first come, first served basis. This is a socially distanced event for elements of which you may be asked to wear a mask.
Clonmel Applefest is also delighted to announce their third annual Poetry Trail call out. This year, writers are invited to submit a poem of 20 lines or less guided by the theme ‘Rituals of Joy & Sorrow’. Submissions to be sent to eileenacheson6@gmail.com on or before Sunday 29th August.
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