Feile Na Greine

Micheal O'Suilleabhain

South Kerry will celebrate the Summer Solstice this year with first time? An Arts Festival - Feile na Greine - at Tech Amergin in Waterville. The Festival will run from Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd June and will incorporate an art exhibition, concerts, drama, workshops, poetry readings, outdoor theatre and carnival and a circus skills workshop. (Change order, more fluid.)

Feile na Greine kicks off on Thursday evening when Minister John O'Donoghue will launch Prism: The Artist and the Sun, an exhibition of artwork by Iveragh artists. This will be followed by the opening concert of the Festival, featuring internationally renowned pianist Micheal O'Suilleabhain.

Micheal, who has developed a unique Irish piano style and made numerous recordings, is Professor of Music at University of Limerick. There he established the Irish World Music Centre, which hosts music students from far and wide. The concert will feature a new work Micheal has composed especially for Feile na Greine. Entitled "Freagra Sceine ar Aimhirgín", the composition is for piano, voice and string quartet and will be performed by Micheal, poet Paddy Bushe and the Carolan Quartet.

Other musical events include "Triur Ban Gaelach faoin nGrein" with Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Maire Breatnach and Ishbel Mac Askill. (Change Order!) Ishbel, from the Scottish Island of Lewis, sings unaccompanied traditional songs and is considered by some to the best international known Gaelic singer today.

Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, is Ireland's best known Irish language poet. Rugadh i Sasana agus chaith si roinnt maith i gCorca Dhuibhne, ait a chuir tionchar ar forbairt a cuid filiochta. Ta si ina ball d'Aosdana.

Other poets appearing at the festival are Paula Meehan, member of Aosdana, who won the Denis Devlin Memorial Award for her most recent collection of poems 'Dharmakaya', and Theo Dorgan, who is also a radio and television broadcaster, translator, editor and documentary scriptwriter.

Irish speaking Italian Kerrymen, The Fanzini Brothers, will bring their circus skills workshop to Waterville for the first time, demonstrating juggling, plate spinning and diablo and generally adding a touch of insanity to the festival!

The last event of the festival will be a massive St John's Eve Bonfire at 11.00pm on Friday night, followed (weather permitting) by an Outdoor Ceili.

Fees for the workshops, which take place on Friday and Saturday from 10.00am to 1.00pm, are 30 euro each or 50 euro for two. Maximum number of participants 10. Children's workshops are free.

Concert admission is 15.00 euro (12.00 euro conc.) and Poetry Readings 5.00 euro. For further information and advance booking please e-mail: techamergin@eircom.net or phone 066 9478956.