Liverpool Irish Festival kicks off this week.
Now in its 22nd year, Liverpool Irish Festival is described as the UK’s largest Irish arts and culture-led festival.
Founded in 2003, the Festival brings Liverpool and Ireland closer together, using arts and culture.
The festival will see over 35 events, for all ages, take place across 10 days.
The events range from children’s activities to rich historical Irish heritage.
The line-up includes an array of Irish artists and contributors from across the worlds of theatre, film, spoken word, visual arts and academia.
The festival celebrates ‘departures’ as its core theme this year.
The festival say: “Considering migrancy, displacement, changes in thinking and rejecting shame, our range of events span from children’s activities to rich historical Irish heritage. Our line-up includes an array of Irish artists and contributors from across the worlds of theatre, film, spoken word, visual arts and academia. Each connects with ‘departure’– whether focussed on the displacement of people or the advent of a new philosophy.”
The festival gets underway with the official launch at the Liverpool Irish Centre with performances from Sue Rynhart and Sinéad Campbell.
Internationally acclaimed The Armagh Rhymers feature as part of the annual Family Day at Museum of Liverpool, as well as delivering an adult performance: The Trail of Tears – Memory (26 Oct).
Linking with the new Irish Famine vigil and official annual Irish Famine memorial (27 Oct) is new song — The Ullaloo which has been commissioned specially this year. It will be sung here for the first time by the Liverpool Irish Centre Choir. These events precede an Irish Heritage Trust talk on The Poor Helping the Poor.
Several heritage tours are included this year, complemented by films, talks and book launches. Linked directly to ‘departures’ and Liverpool Irish Famine Trail work, the Revealing Trails exhibit offers a poignant look at contemporary views on An Gorta Mór, whilst the self- guided tour reflects on Irish migration, settlement and legacy.
In theatre, Manchán Magan brings Arán Agus Im/Bread and Butter to the Liverpool Medical Institute, comparing language with baking. Big Telly Productions consider mortality and digital afterlives in Granny Jackson’s Dead, whilst author Kate Kerrigan’s Am I Irish Yet? challenges assumptions around Irishness.
Those who enjoyed Brave Maeve in 2023 will be thrilled that a second children’s volume will be released this year, with readings at Central Library (Sat 19 Oct) and The Old Library (TBC) and an exhibition at St Helen’s Library (Mon 7 Oct-Sat 30 Nov 204).
Work with Fréa’s Renewing Roots project brings two films highlighting Ireland’s care abuses, both to be shown on 2 November at The Bluecoat. In Each Other’s Shelter We Survive and Stolen (accompanied with a Margo Harkin (director) interview and panel Q&A) each contribute to the In:Visible Women work strand.
Exhibitions consider the departure of ash trees from our planet. Disease has swept through ash stocks. Michael ’Muck’ Murphy’s work employs the remaining wood In the Window at the Bluecoat Display Centre, whose garden facing windows peer on to the trunks of two felled ash trees. There will also be an eclectic retrospective of Irish makers on show, in the Display Centre, looking back over our In the Window exhibits from previous years.
Celebrating local talent specifically, there will be music and dance in the Melody Maker and George Ferguson Dance School night (Palm House, Sun 20 Oct) called …and so for now adieu/Slán leat. Referencing the North American wakes of the Irish Famine era, the two companies have collaborated to create a night of music and song that reflect leaving.
Liverpool Irish Festival CEO and Artistic Director, Emma Smith said: “As in previous years, the Liverpool Irish Festival brings Liverpool and Ireland closer together using arts and culture. Departures allows us to consider ideas and philosophies that are core to the Irish experience. As the third largest migrant community in England, the Irish are aware of how challenging (and damaging) assumptions can be. As we navigate our collective and individual identity — post-Brexit, post-Culture Wars and with new post-Colonial language and approaches — we have a responsibility to share stories that might help people today. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at some of the difficulties witnessed recently; by further unpicking class-division, fears around wealth and growing intolerances we can help to build a stronger, more cohesive community. The work we’ve selected for #LIF2024 helps us shine a light on such conversations and invites all people to engage with their own identity”.
Dr Ann Hoskins, new Chair of the Liverpool Irish Festival, added: “I’ve been around the Liverpool Irish Festival since its inception. I’ve watched it become a significant cog in Liverpool’s annual cultural machine. I’m proud to support the work as Chair. Though I’m originally from Belfast, I’ve built my family life in Liverpool. I can see how the Festival connects the culture of the city with the island of Ireland. I’m excited by this year’s programme and look forward to being challenged, stimulated and enjoying the events.”
Sarah Mangan, Consul General of Ireland, added: “The Northwest contains many thriving Irish communities. Here at the Consulate, we’ve been invigorated by the work of the Festival, particularly events that treat the diaspora as a progressive and changing community and, especially, the commemoration work around Irish Famine and the city”.
Liverpool Irish Festival runs 17- 27 October.
For more information, click here.
