The idea and the final details
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The idea and the final details
Tuatha Dé Danann - Richmond Revival, Fermoy, County Cork - May 27th and May 28th.
Tuatha Dé Danann - Richmond Revival, Fermoy, County Cork - May 27th and May 28th.
I will get into the inspiration for this event towards the end of this piece but first some of the Tuatha Dé Danann details that people have been texting and emailing me about.
It’s just over a week to go until our weekend celebration of Irish music, arts, mythology, land, spirit, comedy and drama. All of the weekend line-ups, events and performers are contained on the ticket booking site EventBrite - Please, if you are planning to join us at this event please book your tickets as soon as possible (link below). We are having a BBQ for Saturday evening and we need to know the final numbers for this by early next week. The BBQ is included in the price of the Saturday ticket, weekend tickets and camping tickets.
Gates to the venue open at 5pm on Friday May 26th for those camping and we have some music, storytelling and other surprises lined up for Friday evening.
The main event begins on Saturday morning at 10:30am and gates will be open at 9:00am for weekend ticket holders and single day ticket holders who are not joining the camping fun.
Hopefully the weather will continue its upward trend but please ensure you bring warm clothing just in case. The main events will take place in a marquee to the front of Richmond House and patrons will have access to the marquee and ground floor rooms of Richmond house. We are running a community cafe where people will be able to purchase affordable teas, coffees, croissants, confectionary, muesli, cornflakes, soft drinks, soup and sandwiches. We will also have a small number of food-trucks on-site. The Richmond revival is accessible via Richmond Hill and is approximately 300 or 400 metres from the centre of Fermoy town.
There have been many people behind the scenes helping me try to put this event together. All have done so on a voluntary basis and I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the Saoirse Creatives now as without the goodwill of many people this event would not be taking place.
A little background………
The inspiration for this festival is built on a very simple idea. I am trying to plant some seeds ( along with others ) of Irish culture, language, history and the arts back into the fabric of our local communities. To enshrine this broad expanse of Irish expression, that I know still exists, back into our day-to-day lives.
Yeah, but what exactly does that mean you might fairly ask?
Well, let me answer that question as follows:
All of the performers, organisers, many attendees & speakers are from what I believe to be the heart and soul of Ireland. People who understand the importance of all of the cultural activities and forms of expression we have lined up for the weekend. When all of these people gather together for the weekend in Fermoy start resonating with each other and also particular musicians, poets, playwrights, writers, speakers, comedians, artists storytellers and others - something magical might happen. What that magic might entail I have no real idea nor do I want to know in advance really. I am hopeful if we can create the environment for good things to happens that maybe they will.
All I would encourage is that perhaps, afterwards, people leave and create their own smaller occasions of Irish expression. In a backyard, kitchen, sitting-room, field, or even a local community hall by inviting one of the people they’ve met over the weekend to perform. A modern twist on the old Irish concept of the visiting house.
Why not have a local poet, Gaeilgeoir, land historian, story-teller, musician, or mythologist entertain and educate you and your neighbors for an evening in the towns and villages up and down the country?
So, in a sense, this festival is not attempting to create something big. In fact, the opposite, we are trying to create something small. Hopefully you’ll take away seeds from the gathering and plant them all around the island. And begin anew inspiring the creatives of the next generation. So, that those young people can see people living their creative dreams in their local environment. Very often, creative types are forced through financial necessity to chose the corporate route or the nine-to-five job at a point when their talents are set to blossom in full. I believe it is vitally important that our youth are never forced into making that bargain and that at the very least there will exist a plethora of local Irish places to share their gifts and explore their dreams.
And that in a nutshell is what the Tuatha Dé Danann féile hopes to breathe. A weekend of sharing our gifts and exploring our dreams.
The idea and the final details
It was a really fantastic day - Thomas Sheridan and John Waters being the highlight. Thank you so much for organising this so deeply meaningful and encouraging event.
So beautifully and thoughtfully put