THE life of Tom Crean is about to be celebrated in a fresh light in The Tom Crean Festival this weekend.

The centrepiece of the festival, which takes place annually in the West Kerry village of Annascaul, will be a choreographed version of the local hero’s life on Saturday night.

Tom Crean’s Journey: An Irish Dance Expedition is a dance/drama performance which is to be staged in the local Conor-Crean centre at 7.30pm.

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It’s the creation of Martin Percival whose family lives in the village and who was formerly lead dancer with Riverdance and Lord of the Dance.

Indeed his mother Eileen is organiser of the festival and his brother Gary manages the local South Pole Inn which was formerly owned by Tom Crean.

The piece also features an appearance by David Geaney the Dingle-based world champion step dancer. Michael Healy-Rae TD will launch the show.

The festival gets underway on Friday at 5pm with a welcome gathering in the Jerome Connor Gallery upstairs in the South Pole Inn, displaying 29 portraits of the Endurance crew by Irish Artist Medbh Gillard.

Introduced by Mike Shea our very own Irish explorer from Dingle. Cliff Wedgbury will be showcasing a couple of his new Antarctic ballads.

Later there is an exclusive talk by author Michael Smith at 7pm in the Conor / Crean Centre

Saturday sees the Tom Crean Endurance Walk which has now sold out. Buses leave Annascaul at 7am for an 8am start. It follows a 19 mile mountain walk through the hills of West Kerry, finishing at Tom Crean’s Pub the South Pole Inn.

Annascaul Walking Club maintain a great spirit of enjoyment, fun and achievement. This is limited to 200 brave participants.

Sunday see the Ton Crean Trail at 1pm in the Tom Crean Memorial Garden.

This is a ramble through Tom’s footsteps, taking in his homestead, Minard Castle where he signed up for the Royal Navy, followed by laying of flowers at his graveside.

Tickets and information on all the events are available at www.tomcreanfestival.com