Join us for another weekend of MAD events as we celebrate the Arts in Athenry with an inclusive programme for all.
Due to COVID restrictions all events will be held in the festival garden of the Athenry Arts & Heritage Centre. Bookings can be made through our Eventbrite page and links will be provided for each event on this page. Numbers will be limited for each event and may be subject to change.
Saturday 18th September
Drumadore: 10:00am-12:00pm
We start this years event with a bang as Eimhin Craddock of Drumadore presents a drumming workshop with the Gliondar Community drummers.
Visitors are welcome to enjoy the sound of the drums as Eimhin sets out a rhythm for the drummers to follow.
The first hour is dedicated to the drummers of Athenry, however the second hour is designed for beginners (8+) to experience a group drumming session and learn from one of Galways best.
Please note that under 16's must be accompanied by an adult and a contact tracing log must be completed.
Children's Craft Workshop 8-12yrs with Elaine Cunningham 12:30pm-2:30pm Free
The musical theme continues as Elaine's workshop is all about making your very own musical instrument.
The children will make instruments and decorate them, recycling household items where possible and then learn to play them together with various rhythms.
The workshop is for 8-12yrs and we ask parents to remain during their time with Elaine.
Tickets for the event are available through Eventbrite or click on the link
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/childrens-craft-workshop-tickets-172113625487
Facepainting Workshop 14+ Free 2:00pm-3:00pm
Special Effects Masterclass 14+ Free 3:00pm-4:00pm
Meet the amazing Michelle Ruane and discover the amazing world of Facepainting.
Michelle's workshops which are designed for the 14+ age group will be split into two sessions, with a maximum of 8 in each session.
Her first hour will introduce the basics of facepainting and the designs that be be made for children of all ages.
Participants can learn some quick basic designs and then develop their skills if time permits.
This is a great interactive workshop for young people to enjoy and develop a new lifelong skill.
Tickets are available through the Athenry Heritage Centre Eventbrite page or click on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/facepainting-workshop-for-teenagers-tickets-171998832137
Special Effects Masterclass 14+ Free 3:00pm-4:00pm
Part two of Michelle's workshops is a masterclass of special effects make up.
This is a unique opportunity for any young person to develop their skills in facepainting and the art of make up special effects
Learn how to create designs and discover new techniques in the world of special effects.
Places can be booked for both workshops
Spaces are strictly limited and we advise early booking as this will be very popular.
Tickets for the masterclass are available through Eventbrite which is free to attend.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/special-effects-makeup-masterclass-tickets-172010366637
In conversation with RTE Broadcaster Orla Higgins, Kilkenny Arts Officer Mary Butler and writer/poet Elaine Feeney 6:00pm Free
The Arts are good for your (mental) health. Due to circumstances beyond our control this event will be rescheduled in the near future.
The Athenry MAD Festival is proud to present a panel discussion hosted by RTE broadcaster Orla Higgins with a topical discussion 'The Arts are good for your (mental) health'.
Orla will be joined on the day by Mary Butler, Arts Officer of Kilkenny and writer/poet Elaine Feeney.
The event will be held in the festival garden from 6:00pm and we welcome all Arts practitioners and interested parties to join us for a lively discussion about the Arts are good for your health.
Orla Higgins is an award-winning documentary maker, independent audio producer and lecturer from Galway. She has made a number of documentaries for the RTÉ Radio 1 Documentary on One strand where her work has won her awards at the international New York Festivals Radio Awards. She has also produced a radio documentary for the BBC World Service documentary series In the Studio. In addition, Orla produces podcast series including Other: Stories from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, narrated by the actor Cillian Murphy. She lectures with the Huston School of Film & Digital Media as well as the Business School at NUI Galway.
Twitter: @neoncitystories
Mary Butler is the Arts Officer with Kilkenny County Council and an artist and maker. She has worked in the creative sector for many years now years devising, curating and managing a diverse range of programmes across art forms, including visual arts, theatre, music, literature and multi-disciplinary events.
Current Arts Office projects including the Emerging Curator in Residence Programme, Knitted Together community Arts project, Rhyme Rag online poetry journal for young people, the Poetry Broadsheet and poetry Phoneline and Bookville Children’s Book and Literature Festival.
She combines her working life with her own artistic practice, which fluctuates between textiles, assemblage and site-specific installations using non-traditional materials.
Elaine Feeney is a writer from the west of Ireland. Feeney has published three poetry collections including The Radio was Gospel & Rise (Salmon Poetry). Her debut novel As You Were (Penguin Random House) won the 2021 Dalkey Book Festival’s Emerging Writer Prize, The Kate O’ Brien Prize, The Society of Authors’ McKitterick Prize (UK). It was nominated for Irish Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards, and shortlisted for the prestigious Rathbones-Folio Prize. Feeney’s work featured on Best of 2020 lists in, The Telegraph, Sunday Times, Irish Times, Examiner, Irish Independent, The Herald (Scotland), Evening Standard, Telegraph, Guardian & Observer. Feeney was chosen by the Observer as a top debut novelist for 2020. Her short story Sojourn was published in the Art of The Glimpse: 100 Irish Short Stories. Feeney wrote the multi award-winning drama, WRoNGHEADED commissioned by the Liz Roche Company. She lectures in poetry at The National University of Ireland, Galway, where she is also a founding member of the Tuam Oral History Project. Feeney was a judge of the Seamus Heaney Poetry Prize 2021.
Poetry Town Event: Reason For Rhymes 7:00pm Festival Garden
The Athenry MAD Festival is association with Poetry Ireland will celebrate Athenry Poetry Town with an evening of spoken word, music and announcing the winners of the Padriac Fallon Poetry Competition.
Athenry's Poet laureate Elaine Feeney will read a specially commissioned poem for the event and will also announce the winners of the poetry competition.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite or click the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-reason-for-rhymes-tickets-169016024479
We are pleased to announce another great speaker to the Poetry Town event as writer and poet Anne Marie Kennedy will read some of her recent work and it will be a wonderful addition to the evenings event.
Anne Marie Kennedy has performed at Boyle Arts Festival, Yeats Society Sligo, InisWriters, Galway Fringe Festival, Shorelines Arts Festival, Baffle Poetry Festival, Cúirt Internal Festival of Literature, Yeats’ 150th anniversary at Thoor Ballylee, Electric Picnic 2015, O’Bhéal Poetry Series, Cork and in the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
As a freelance journalist, she writes for Irish Music Magazine, the Connacht Tribune, Irish Times and RTE Radio.
Acafellas 8:00pm Free
Saturday night wouldn't be complete with out a live concert to close the evening.
This year, the Athenry MAD Festival welcomes the Acafellas to the festival garden.
The Acafellas are brothers Mike & Colga Coy and James Kennedy. With backgrounds in musicals, choirs, folk and traditional singing, they take well known songs from a variety of genres, breathing new life into them with three-part harmonies. They have performed extensively in boutique festivals across Ireland and Pan-Celtic Festivals in France.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite or click on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/acafellas-tickets-172070205617
Se7en Inch Collective Live Streaming From The Athenry Heritage Centre
The MAD Festival welcomes back the Se7en Inch Collective to the Athenry Ars & Heritage Centre.
Your resident DJ's Steve & John will take you on a virtual spin of the decks as they play their 45's in the comfort of you home, car, caravan and maybe on the bus!!
Enjoy a monumental 6 hours of music as they play a range of musical genres which takes you from the 1950's to the present day.
Make it a special day with friends and family and have a kitchen party on us.
The Se7en Inch Collective will be live streamed from this link https://twitch.tv/kilo1977 from 3:30pm-10:30pm.
Sunday 19th September
Pianomania 9:30am-11:00am
As part of Athenry MAD Festival local Suzuki piano students will perform in the festival garden with an eclectic mix of music.
Teachers Helen Gannon and Elaine O Connor are delighted at the prospect of live performances after 18 months from their young pupils ranging from age 5 to 17. Music from the Movies, Classical, Jazz, Latin American and original arrangements among the styles that will be performed on Sunday Morning.
The event is free to attend but space is limited so please arrive on time.
Free Laughter Yoga Workshop with Fou Scarf 11:30am-12:30pm 18+
Start your day with a smile, 
and some fun,
with the MAD Festival Laughter Yoga Workshop.
All welcome.
No experience necessary.
Laughter Connects Everyone.
Circus Skills Workshop with Mollylu 1:00pm-3:00pm
Roll Up, Roll Up Mollylu and her fantastic circus workshop arrives into town.
Children will love this two hour workshop with Mollylu and she introduces children to the world of circus skills.
It's a great introduction to learn new skills, meet new friends and show your new found talent to family and friends.
Tickets for the Circus Skills Workshop are available through Eventbrite or click on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/mollylus-circus-skills-workshop-tickets-172051900867
The Bandwagons Free Family Concert in the Festival Garden 4:00pm-5:30pm
There's gonna be dancing in the garden with the fantastic Bandwagons from Athenry.
Enjoy a family day, have a boogie, meet your friends or family.
Enjoy some tunes from the Athenry MAD Festival.
This event is free to attend but has limited capacity, so please arrive on time.
Its an outdoor event so please wear the appropriate clothing for the time of year.
COVID protocols must be adhered to and please wear a facemask too.
Free tickets are available through Eventbrite, please click on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-bandwagons-tickets-174959788437
Wednesday West 8:00pm €5.00 plus booking fee Children Free
The Athenry MAD Festival closes with the amazing Wednesday West. This traditional group will play a lively set of jigs and reels and they are sure to get the toes tapping and the legs dancing.
Enjoy the moment of Trad sounds in the wonderful setting of the festival garden.
Wednesday West was formed out of the vibrant traditional music scene in Galway City. Freda, Tommy, Liz, and Michael have been meeting up regularly to play music on Wednesday nights in Cookes Thatch Bar, and it was from these sessions that Wednesday West was born. All four musicians are based in the West of Ireland and come from a variety of musical backgrounds, from self-taught to classical training to traditional courses studied at university level. Each of them have played in a variety of groups and have toured extensively all over the world, and their music has been cumulatively recorded on dozens of albums. Unable to meet and play regularly during the pandemic, they are looking forward to this special opportunity to bring back the exciting dynamics of the live traditional session to a listening audience. This performance will include lively sets of jigs and reels, contemplative and contemporary pieces, and poignant songs.
Tickets for the vent are available through Eventbrite or click on the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/wednesday-west-perform-at-the-athenry-mad-festival-tickets-171852855517
Wednesday West are:
Freda Hatton: harp, concertina, whistle
Tommy Carew: guitar, vocals
Liz Coleman: fiddle
Michael Chang: fiddle, viola, mandolin
The festival committee would like to thank the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for their continuing support of the Athenry MAD Festival in 2021.
