Diary dates and more.
FESTIVAL WATCH - KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL
KILKENNY HAS long been a hotspot for art in Ireland, so it's only natural that one of Ireland's most prominent international arts festivals takes place there, from tomorrow until August 17th. This is the 35th Kilkenny Arts Festival. Since it began the festival has broadened to accommodate many art forms: stage and street performances, painting and sculpture exhibitions, classical, jazz, new-age and trad music, film, and child entertainment. The festivities take place all around the town; in the streets, Kilkenny Castle and cathedral, local hotels or clubs, galleries, or any other available venue.
About 85,000 spectators come to the festival each year, to see acts from all over the world, such as the Belarus Free Theatre and the Tobacco Factory theatre, performers such as Physical Jerks (left) and Hélios II, groups such as Mercury Rev, the Dresden Group, and Spiritualized and exhibitions by artists Cormac Boydell and Ross Stuart. See www.kilkennyarts.ie for more details.
Eugene Egan
TODAY AND TOMORROW
TODAY:The Irish Film Institute screens the classic The Bridge on the River Kwaiat 8pm, Temple Bar Dublin, www.ifi.ie. Opera in the Open begins 1pm, at the amphitheatre, Wood Quay, Dublin, and runs every Thursday till September 4th, free entry. A Lunchtime Feast with an Opera Serenade in the National Concert Hall is at 1.05pm, admission €15. Rathdrum Fireworks Festival is in the Parnell Memorial Park, Co Wicklow, 10pm-midnight. Féile Omeath in Co Louth continues with a children's street art competition at 7.30pm on Omeath pier. PJ Gallagher and Jason Coughlin do comedy, The Queen's Inn, Dalkey at 9.00pm.
TOMORROW:The Irish Green Gathering, an eco-friendly festival is in Enniscorthy from 8th-10th. www.irishgreengathering.com. Carrick Water Music Festival is in Carrick-on-Shannon until the 17th. Info www.carrickwatermusic.com. The Life and Works of WB Yeats exhibition is in the National Library of Ireland.
Eugene Egan