IMPROVING WITH AGE: Did you know that Goethe completed Faust at the age of 80? Or that Titian was still painting masterpieces at 98? It makes Seamus Heaney, at 67, seem quite the spring chicken.
Creativity in older people is what the Bealtaine festival, which kicks off on Monday, celebrates. It runs for the entire month of May, encompasses all art forms and takes place at local, regional and national level, making it the largest arts festival in Ireland. This year, it will focus on the creative exchange between older and younger people. There will be a countrywide series of traditional concerts, featuring younger musicians playing with an older musician they admire, as well as intergenerational public conversations between such figures as Fiach Mac Conghail and Tomás MacAnna and Irish Times journalists Deirdre Falvey and Mary Maher. Other highlights include dance and clown workshops at the Abbey, art workshops at IMMA and a touring screening of the classic film The Philadelphia Story. Check out www.olderinireland.ie or call 1890-506060. Eimear McKeith
ATTENTION ALL FRANCOPHILES
The seventh annual Franco Irish Literary Festival, organised with enormous flair and attention to detail by the Alliance Française and the cultural service of the French embassy, will be held at the Chester Beatty Library and Coach House in Dublin next Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This year's theme celebrates aspects of community life and work, family ties, friendship and social relations. Fitting for the year that's in it. While the growing phenomenon of migration will be explored, the emphasis will be on the positive aspects of diversity and the French gift for conviviality and good living. French, German, Irish, Spanish, Canadian and Austrian writers will deliver papers and attend workshops. Irish Times journalist Lara Marlowe and several academics including Michael Cronin and Jean-Philippe Imbert of DCU, Jane Conroy of the Royal Irish Academy, Jean-Michel Picard of UCD and Dominique Le Meur of University of Limerick will act as moderators. Book now for a literary brunch at noon on Sunday when novelist Brian Lynch, Beckett's biographer Anthony Cronin, and Irish Times columnist Alan Titley will keep a contentious conversation going regarding the question: "Has the ability to live together triumphed in today's society?" Recent events in Paris would suggest this will be a lively debate. Open to the public, admission free. www.francoirishliteraryfestival.com. Patsey Murphy
LOOK WHAT NAVAN'S HAVIN'
Most Meath residents have to endure the nightmare of commuting to Dublin. They have also had to put up with cultural commuting, heading all the way back into the capital to see a decent play, concert, film or art exhibition. This is about to change, with the opening this weekend of Solstice Arts Centre, on Railway Street in Navan (right). Designed by award-winning Grafton Architects, it features a 320-seat theatre, three art galleries and a cafe. As part of the opening celebrations, there are free performances today by Belfast Community Circus, Argentinean tango dancers and Tall Tales Theatre Company, plus a concert tomorrow featuring the renowned uilleann-piper Paddy Keenan (admission €20). See www.solsticeartscentre.ie or call 046-9092300. Eimear McKeith
DECORATING DIRECTORY
Interior designers . . . didn't the American heiress Doris Duke run over hers with her car? It probably wasn't on purpose, but the point is a bad designer can really exasperate. Golden Pages is full of decorators, but finding a reliable professional who'll do the job well - and make the whole experience upbeat - is usually done by word of mouth. This can be precarious. An alternative is to contact the Interiors Association. Recently formed by a group of designers with a view to supporting one another and at the same time regulating the industry, the founders say accredited members have been chosen because they meet with professional standards. Respected names are already on board and the online directory is growing. Sounds like a good starting point to find someone who'll reinvent your home. Pictured are, top row, from left: Sarah Cruise, Elaine Butler, Orla Mahon. Middle row, from left: Janine Gunning, Pilar Landaluce and Mary Ryder. Front row, from left: Hilary Duffy, Michelle Byrne. www.theinteriorsassociation.ie Eoin Lyons
CELTIC TIGER: Log on to www.tigerbeer.ie to get free tickets to the Odeon, Dublin 2, this Wednesday. Tiger Beer has asked Irish artist Aidan Kelly to collaborate with Asian artists to translate contemporary Asia into an art piece. Japanese drummers and Bangkok electro-popsters Futon will be there. NG