Fringe festival will bring great buzz to Carlow town
Ilze Perkone, Fiona Broadberry, Bernard Jennings and Tanya O’Neill at the launch of the Carlow Fringe Arts Festival in Scraggs Alley, Carlow Photos: Michael O’Rourke Photography
EXPECT Carlow town to be buzzing with music, drama, fun and games during the upcoming August bank holiday weekend when it hosts this year’s fringe festival.
Taking place from Friday to Sunday, 1-3 August, organisers Maurice O’Reilly and Diamante Stankeviciute have a veritable artistic smorgasbord of events lined up. The programme kicks off with an intriguing collaboration between the festival and Carlow Little Theatre to celebrate the theatre group’s 80th anniversary this year.
The event is a two-course meal taking place on Friday evening in Brook’s, Dinn Rí, when a murder mystery will unfold before the customers’ very eyes.
The festival’s annual and much-loved busking competition takes place on Saturday and Sunday when musicians are invited to play at key areas of the town centre such as Tullow Street, Potato Market and Fairgreen Shopping Centre. Maurice told that the busking competition is growing year-on-year, attracting some great talent. The winner of the competition will be announced at a gig in The Tower on Sunday beginning at 6pm, with bands such as Dara Eaton and the Patsys also lined up to play.
Over the course of the weekend, An Gairdín Beo will be the venue for lots of activities such as art classes, a craft fair, food vendors from Carlow Farmers’ Market, a picnic and music from a local collective of musicians who call themselves Dad Rock, plus face painting and treats for the youngsters. There’s also an exhibition of works of the late Martin Monks, which Maurice has spent months on, gathering artwork and information about the artist.
On Saturday evening, Club d’Art in Pembroke is the venue for a two-hander play called , followed by an open mike session, while on Sunday evening the finale of a competition called will also take place there. The idea is for people to respond to a few lines of poetry that’s already written by finishing it off with their own words. It was hugely successful last year after it was suggested to Maurice as a feature for the festival. Poetry lecturer at Carlow College Derek Coyle has been given the challenging task of judging it.
“People suggest things to us, such as the competition or the collaboration with Carlow Little Theatre and we try to make it happen,” said Maurice. “I’m very much looking forward to it this year because we have so many other people involved, like Carlow Little Theatre. We also wanted to make An Gairdín Beo very family-oriented so that everyone can come along and, of course, the busking competition always attracts lots of attention. So, yes, I’m really looking forward to it all.”
Information about the festival is available on https://madeincarlow.shop/carlow-fringe-arts-festival. Tickets for the various events are available on Eventbrite.
To pick up a programme or to have a chat with Maurice about the competitions, call into him at the Made In Carlow gallery in Hadden’s, Tullow Street.
