Tag: kaf

  • Seti The First, Biggles Flys Again at Kilkenny Arts Festival

    Seti The First, Biggles Flys Again at Kilkenny Arts Festival

    Seti The First at Kilkenny Arts Festival. Photo (C) Ken McGuire

    New Music Night has turned up some great acts over the years as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival and this year the hand dealt contained The Cold Draw (formerly The Thomas Donoghue Band), Seti The First and Biggles Flys Again. (more…)

  • Kilkenny Arts Festival Needs You

    I’m back on the festival trail again this year with the Kilkenny Arts Festival and they’re looking for volunteers (see Facebook) on the ground and on the road from August 5th to 20th (the festival itself runs from August 6th to 15th this year). There is no previous experience necessary for festival volunteers, with the minimum requirement being that you are at least 14 years old. If successful, you’ll be briefed on your role a full week before the festival, though the closing date to get your application in is this Friday July 23rd.

    Days volunteering may be short, long, a real mixed bag of things but it can be a great way to see a festival and meet some new folk at the same time.

    The festival team are also looking for drivers throughout the festival. If you’re aged 25 or over and have a full, clean driving license and are interested in working as a driver on the festival, get in touch with Valerie on 056 7763663. Drivers with Class D (minibus) licenses are also required. The forms are also available to download here.

    Note: The above clip is part of a conversation I had with Theatre and Dance curator Tom Creed ahead of this year’s festival. Thanks to the Project Arts Centre in Dublin for letting us use the space in the afternoon. I’ll be blogging my way through the Festival over at KilkennyArts.ie.

  • Kilkenny Arts Festival Launches

    ONE OF the highlights of my calendar year (and that of Kilkenny) is the Kilkenny Arts Festival. Now in its 36th year, this year’s festival runs from August 6th to 15th and is packed to the hilt with the best in music, theatre and dance, visual arts, literature, children’s events and more. A long time spectator, last year was the first year I’ve volunteered on the festival and I’m back (along with John Morton) in the same role last year in producing the online content for the festival duration (and blogging the festival via the KAF blog).

    That started yesterday with the launch in Dublin where Fergus Shiel put a group of professional singers through their paces to announce the KAF programme for 2010 through a choral performance. The same will be repeated in Kilkenny on August 14th where Fergus will lead a group of around 200 singers through a performance in St. Canice’s Catherdral where works will include Rossini’s Sabat Mater and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.

    Check out the video above, or watch the Qik clip of the launch yesterday as it happened.

  • Blogging The Arts Festival

    Xi and Si

    The Kilkenny Arts Festival, now in its 36th year, opened on Friday night and for the duration of the festival I’ll be hiding out over on the festival blog, with myself and John Morton making contributions to the festival content manning the blog / Twitter and video output until Sunday the 16th.

    For me personally it’s a fantastic way to see the festival, having missed out on much of last year’s offerings due to our own (via Devious Theatre) commitments to producing Smitten (2008). Friday took in Aleksandar Madzar, Aka Moon and Black Machine opening to a weekend featuring RSAG, Julie Feeney, Amiina and much more. Throughout the week I’ll be attending a myriad of theatre, music, visual arts, crafts and literature events and working on bringing those to the web for the festival.

    If you’re attending anything at the Kilkenny Arts Festival or talking about it on Twitter, there’s also the #kaf hashtag that’s currently being used to track festival chatter online. If you do manage to spot me at an event, be sure and say hello.