Opening the door on the arts goes nationwide

A CÉILÍ trail in Roscommon, outdoor projections of WB Yeats’s poetry in Sligo and an Irish dancing world record attempt in Tralee will be among the events this year as Culture Night undergoes a major expansion.

The event, which started in Dublin in 2006, will take place in 11 locations around the country on Friday, September 25th.

This year Letterkenny, Sligo, Tralee, Wexford and counties Mayo and Roscommon will take part for the first time.

Dermot McLaughlin, chief executive of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, the founders of Culture Night and the nationwide co-ordinators, said it was now “truly a national event”.

“There is a fantastic level of creativity and imagination going on in Ireland all the time. Irish people have always been forward-thinking and innovative. An event like Culture Night is an important celebratory moment for the whole country,” he said.

In Dublin a record 124 cultural venues will open their doors for Culture Night, including St Stephen’s Green, the National Museum of Ireland, the Science Gallery Trinity College, the Revenue Museum, Guinness Storehouse, RTÉ Performing Groups and Dublin Castle State Apartments.

The gates of Leinster House will be opened and visitors on the night will enjoy guided tours of the Dáil and Seanad Éireann.

Cork will open the door to more than 50 different venues and will feature buskers on the buses with a showcasing of food and music at the English Market.

Limerick will open the gates of Thomond Park for a stadium tour.

The trust invited several counties to take part. Events in Co Mayo will take place in towns as far apart as Belmullet and Castlebar. In Roscommon there will be events in three of the county’s best-known big houses, Strokestown Park House, Castlecoote House and King House in Boyle.

The public will be able to take a bus trip to a number of different artists’ studios in the Boyle and Roscommon regions.

Roscommon County Council arts, education and development co-ordinator Avril Carr said it was important to expand the remit of Culture Night outside the big cities. “We may not have the same levels of culture institutions, but there is still a lot going on and we are trying to make it accessible.”