All photos by Jenny Callanan
Drogheda Arts Festival is over for another year and hardy festival goers can now take a well-earned rest after five days of creativity, music and fun.
Yesterday the ever popular Big Day Out in Dominics Park had everything to spark the imagination including a circus performance from Tumble Circus, storytelling with Grainne Rafferty, Nature crafts with Growing Roots, a Giant Sea Creature with Autin Dance Theatre and music from The Drogheda Brass Band and The International Song Group.
There was be lots of delicious food from Courtyard Coffee Box, Izmoo – Ice-cream (Laurances St. Drog), Smiths Ice-Cream Van – Caroline and BBQ Steaks and Burgers
Saturday saw a stunningly diverse spectrum of the world of music from Drill Music by the internationally acclaimed Drill Music collective A92 in Boomerang to Classical to Alternative Punk Rock.
Also on Saturday afternoon Brian Hegartys exhibition opened at The Droichead Arts Centre with an engaging and energetic conversation with David Newton an artist and educator from Rhode Island about what it is to be an artist and how Brian’s own process is a true art form as he does not follow rules and expresses his own truth in his work, using vinyl lps in a stunningly unique way!
After the launch of Objects and Oscillations it was back to the faa side and up to Gerrards Church where prof Desmond O’ Neill spoke about the music he curated for the evening.. Once the Ficino Quartet appeared the intensity of their performance had a physical effect on everyone as their dynamism and ferocious precision filled the church with an aural feast!
Technical Manager for the Droichead Arts Centre John McGovern, Visual Artist Vivienne Byrne, Musician/Composer Breifne Holohan and Director of Upstate Theatre Company Declan Mallon as Upstate Theatre Project presents The Morning Side of the Mountain, in association with Drogheda Arts Festival at Droichead Arts Centre.
Meanwhile, over in the Drocihead Arts Centre the other end of the musical spectrum was occuring with Paramount Styles giving a raw and edgy concert of alternative punk rock. The first half was rugged and powerful, the sound was incredible!
During the interval frontman Scott McCloud treated us to a rare performance of Punk Songs from Washington DC where he grew up and he explained to us how Punk music was akin to folk music as it is passed on by word of mouth.
‘Seeing that we had Folk music at the festival I wanted to play you Folk Music from Washington, which we call PUNK’!” he said.
The band joined him for a raucous second half which peaked when guitarist Chris Smets strap fell off and he landed on the ground in a Hendrix like haze ravaging the guitar with Alexis Fleisig driving the drums and creating explosive sounds! Incredible!
Drogheda Arts Festival was delighted to host this world premiere of specially commissioned work “Causeway”, performed by Nós Nua – LouthYouth Folk Orchestra, composed in collaboration with Multi-Award Winning musician Mohsen Amini, who also performed a concert with special guests on this double headed bill.
“Causeway”, is inspired by the story of the Giants Causeway, and the cultural connections between Scotland and Ireland. Nós Nua, is made up of youth musicians from across Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Cavan & Armagh. The Causeway project is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, through the Young Ensemble Scheme.
This performance at The Barbican Centre was high energy with Mohsen guiding the young orchestra through the composition. The Nos Nus Orchestra themselves were all of an amazing calibur ranging in ages between nine years old and up.
In the Droichead Arts Centre Upstate Theatre Project presented The Morning Side of the Mountain, in association with Drogheda Arts Festival. Upstate, Visual Artist Vivienne Byrne and musician/composer Breifne Holohan introduced us to story tellers Peadar and Kathleen Elmore and their home in the Cooley peninsula.
Their life story was presented and told through pre-recorded audio conversations with the couple, projected family photographs and film footage of the Cooley landscape along with music especially composed and performed live.
Later we saw ROGU Double Bill – an evening of fire, mystery and magic.
Rogu gave us two high intensity street performances in the stunning surroundings of Millmount.
People of all ages gathered to watch the spectacle. Rogu’s fantastically skilled and imaginative performers threw fire around like it was an extension of themselves! The blazes lit up the audience with wonderment and you could hear cheers and expressions as the crowd bursted out oohhs and aahhs in amazement of the show.
Yesterday, the last day of Drogheda Arts Festival 2022, the scene shifted to Dominic’s park for the Big Day Out which was a sensational and high energy end to what has been an incredible five days of events!
