MAYOR of Tralee Municipal District, Norma Foley, along with Moira Murrell, CE of Kerry County Council were in Tralee Town Park on Wednesday to announce more details of Culture Night which will take place this year on Friday, September 22 from 5.00 to 11.00pm.
Arts and Cultural venues across the town will host free events for the public to enjoy.
Kerry County Council Arts Office has been busy co-ordinating events again this year along with arts groups and other organisations happy to get involved and give a free night of cultural events to their communities.
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Culture Night kicks off early in Tralee with family fun in the Square from 5pm – 8pm. Dancers from the Joanne O’Connor Tenacity School of Performing Arts will perform recent work and will be followed by a Dance Your Heart Out DJ.
Face painters and cartoon characters will entertain and at 6.15pm the Wobbly Circus Show featuring Stan Ratchet will bring spectators though mime, manipulation and fire juggling. From 6.45pm to 8.15pm a Live Bands session will feature Chapter 2, Beat-Boxing Gavin and a variety of upbeat pop acts.
A Creative Ireland Kerry Youth Choral Open Session will take place at the Kerry School of Music and is inviting young people to join this countywide initiative.
The KSM are also holding a School Without Walls event. It’s a great chance see musical instruments and hear orchestras and musicians in action.
At Roundy’s Bar an unusual art installation will feature 1,000 paper cranes and has been created by artist Rebecca Babbington.
Kerry County Museum hosts five events this year kicking off with Sliabh Mish Comhaltas. Their exhibitions include ‘Casement in Kerry-A Revolutionary Journey’ and their Museum Gallery, Tom Crean Room and the Killaclohane Portal Tomb Collaboration will all be on view.
Members of the Medieval Living History Group will bring Geraldine Tralee to life and they will be on hand to chat about life and death in the Middle Ages.
The Museum is also hosting an Ancient Pottery Workshop with Lone Beiter O’Reilly who will explore, with participants, how ancient pottery was made.
At.6.30pm a ‘Behind The Scenes’ Museum Collections Tour with Curator Helen O’Carroll and Collections Officer, Sarah O’Farrell will take place.
Siamsa Tíre is hosting dance workshops, choral and arts events and artist in residence Karen Hendy is inviting the public to create art from recycled materials in the centre.
An Evening Performance of Catherine Young’s new dance work ‘It Takes A Village’ will feature an international cast of dancers and musicians. Young has engaged with Ireland’s new communities, their music, dance and song to create a show that looks at the importance of traditional values and how resilience, supporting one another and community are critical to our survival.
Music direction is by Martin Scharer and is cast with some of Ireland’s top musicians. A show not to be missed!
Tralee Art Group will open a new exhibition at Tralee Library and members will read passages from books that have inspired the work in the show.
They will also have an event at Baile Mhuire Day Care Centre in Balloonagh, that same evening. Attendees are encouraged to take up materials and create art with them. Comhaltas Tralee will be back in Manor Shopping Centre between 7.00 and 9.00pm and Tralee International Resource Centre will host an African Drumming Evening in their premises in Boherbee.
Meanwhile The Abbey Inn is host to the Thursday Night Writers Group for an evening of local poetry, prose and music with guest writers John Sexton and Noel King featuring.
Tralee has a packed programme his year so remember to ‘Switch On Culture Night’ on Friday 22nd September. All events are free to enjoy.