Athenry MAD Festival

Get ready for the second MAD Festival in Athenry, as we present a multi disciplinary event over four days from the 19th-22nd September. This years event is still accessible for all ages and includes a programme of music, exhibitions, writers workshops, children's puppet shows and lots lots more. The event also includes Culture Night which will be held in locations throughout Athenry. Check out our programme and make a date in your diary where Athenry goes MAD!!

Join us this Thursday 19th September as we officially launch the 2nd Athenry MAD Festival in Amicitia at 6:00pm. All are welcome.

Event: Photographic Exhibition: West Impressions

Location: Amicitia Gallery, Old Church Street

Date: Opening Thursday 19th September 6pm- Thursday 13th of October. Hours 11am – 5:30pm

Admission: Free, All Welcome

A reflective collection of photographs from artist/photographers Steve Scott, Ted Turton and Pavel Smal closely observing the places they pass through every day.

Event: Anna Falkenau & Steve Simmons

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: Doors open 8:00pm

Concert: 8:30pm

Date: Thursday 19th September

Admission: €11.00

Suitable For All Ages

Virtuoso fiddle player Anna Falkenau and wonderful singer and guitar player Stephen Simmonds will present a powerful program of Irish and American music. Anna’s driving tunes and delicate melodies have a strong pull: “Her tone and control are glorious” writes SingOut! There’ll also be some new works: “Falkenau’s compositions are beautifully quirky, full of unexpected twists and turns, and her Apatchy Hunting in the Garden is a masterclass in imaginative playing and tune-christening alike” appraises Siobhán Long in the Irish Times. Stephen Simmonds will treat the audience to some gems out of his large treasure of folk songs from Scotland, Ireland and beyond. Having originally joined force playing at regular sessions in Connemara, these two excellent musicians have grown into a tight and intuitive musical unit.

In the more recent past, Anna Falkenau has released two critically acclaimed CDs, her 2014 solo CD “Féileacán na Saoirse” and “I Can Hear You Calling” in 2017 with five-string banjo player Lena Ullman. Both albums received four-star reviews in The Irish Times. England’s major folk music magazine fRoots described her solo CD: “Imagine Denis Murphy meets Martin Hayes and both win…!” and Folkworld reviewed “I Can Hear You Calling raises the hairs on my neck at times, that primal edge on the fiddle particularly.” She has performed with Dolores Keane, the late Tony Small, Ged Foley and many more and has appeared nationally and internationally at festivals, folk clubs, house concerts and churches.

Originally from New Zealand, Stephen Simmonds is now based in Connamara. He has been a performing musician for many years and is comfortable in most styles. He regularly backs traditional musicians such as Charlie Lennon, Mary Shannon and Johnny Connolly, amongst others. Stephen also plays with Patrick Bergin and the Dominic Street Ramblers. His travels have led him to pick up songs from New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canada.

20th September

Event: Culture Night: Wrap Up In Culture

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 5:00pm-9:00pm

Date: Friday 20th September

All Events Are Free To Attend

Experience the best of Culture Night as the Athenry Arts & Heritage Centre presents an evening of free events to celebrate Culture Night 2019. Brought to you by the Dept. of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in collaboration with Galway County Council this national event is one of many being held throughout Ireland on Friday 20th September. All events are free to attend but places may be limited due to venue size.

Event: Ian Bascombe & Katharine Mac Mághnuis

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 5:30pm

Date: Friday 20th September

Suitable for All Ages

Ian Bascombe Tin Whistle, Bouzouki, Voice

Katharine Mac Mághnuis Fiddle, Viola

Event: Shadow Puppet Theatre Show

Location: Amicitia

Time: 6:00pm

Date: Friday 20th September

Age: 3+

Join us in Amicitia for a unique event with Lanna who presents a shadow puppet theatre show. Her puppeteers will enthrall young audiences with their stories and amazing puppets.

Event: Folding for Fun: Origami Workshop with Tom Cuffe

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 6:30pm

Date: Friday 20th September

Age: 6+

The ancient Japanese art of folding paper to create almost anything you want. No glue, no sticky tape just Fold for Fun. From birds to planes to foxes to boxes from wonderfully simple to wonderful geometric. Folding for fun for all the family and great for sharing with your friends. Be careful this art form is very addictive and it’s only paper just any old paper or just any beautiful paper.

Origami:-Art and Geometry merge in the ancient Eastern art form of folding paper. Transform a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques.

No two are alike

And each one is just the same

People and the cranes

Event: Ted Talks 2: Ollie Jennings & Ted Turton Present The Galway Arts Festival, from humble beginnings to International Arts Festival.

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 8:30pm

Date: Friday 20th September

Age: 16+

Ollie Jennings and Ted Turton, both founder members of the Galway Arts Festival in 1978, tell the story of how the festival got off the ground and discuss with the audience the prevailing cultural landscape of the time and what factors contributed to it's success. Illustrated with contemporary photographs.

Ted Turton is a practising visual artist living in Athenry. Ollie Jennings is a publicist, promoter and band manager (Saw Doctors) based in Galway city.

Saturday 21st September

Event: Lougrea Craft Club: Fairy House Workshop

Location: Amiticia

Time: 1:00pm

Date: Saturday 21st September

Age: 5+

Create a cute fairy and a house for her to live in. Make your very own flower fairy and an adorable colourful fairy house. A fun creative drop in workshop aimed at children age 5-12.

Event: Athenry Music School Pop Up Orchestra

Location: Joyce's Supermarket

Time: 1:30pm

Date: Saturday 21st September

Let the Athenry Music School enhance your shopping experience with a performance in Joyce's Supermarket that will delight and calm your Saturday shopping day.

Event: Rince Tine Cnámh / The Bonfire Dance

Location: Athenry Playground

Time: 7:30pm

Date: Saturday 21st September

Free admission and suitable for all ages

Join us for farewell to Summer with a Rince Tine Cnámh. Meeting with our lanterns/candles we make our way to The Walled Garden. You don't need to know the dance, it will be Cheili called so everyone of every age can join in!

Event: Julie Feeney SOLD OUT

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 9:00pm

Date: Saturday 21st September

Tickets: €26.00

Join us for a wonderful intimate concert in the Athenry Heritage Centre with acclaimed performer Julie Feeney. she will be accompanied by musician Feargal Murray.

This concert performance has limited seating so book early early to avoid any disappointment.

Julie Feeney’s sell out shows have riveted audiences and critics all over the world including Amsterdam, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, China, Brazil, U.S.A, Canada, U.K. and Ireland. She performs as a one woman show with ensemble with choirs or with full orchestra; and she composes, arranges and orchestrates all of her own music and words. Her three albums have been widely critically acclaimed internationally, receiving numerous awards and she has created a whole host of stunning music videos to accompany them. Sharp witted unpretentious and fiercely passionate, Julie Feeney is a genuine artist and a hugely enjoyable performer.

Event: Mindfulness In Motion for Teenagers with Sharon Lynch

Location: Athenry Community Hall

Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Date: Saturday 21st September

Ten places available. Cost €10/€8 cons

This 90 minute workshop will show teenagers how to quieten their mind, find their centre and cultivate awareness through mindful movement, meditation and dance. They will learn an active body warm up using colour therapy and the body’s seven chakras as a guide, that can be used daily to promote well-being. The intention is for them to develop confidence and self-esteem by learning to move in sync with their natural rhythm, using music from around the world. Everyone is welcome, you don’t need to be a dancer or in any way experienced in meditation. Ten places available. Cost €10/€8 cons Find more info on Facebook: Sharon Lynch Body Mind Movement.

Event: Art Exhibition

Location: The North Gate

Sunday 22nd September

Event: Shadow Puppet Workshop

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 3:00pm

Date: Sunday 22nd September

Event: Poetry Evening

Location: Arch Bar

Time: 8:00pm

Date: Sunday 22nd September

Calling all budding Poets and lovers of the spoken word, meet in the Arch Bar for an evening of poetry, fiction and non fiction. Its an open mic night so there's plenty of opportunity to present your work.

Event: How Big, How Fast, How Far!

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 7:30pm

Date: 22nd September

Athenry Night Sky
How Big, How Fast, How Far” Presented By Scott

OVERVIEW&PURPOSE

Begin with a brief talk in layman's terms of the night sky, with a slide presentation Followed up by a short Q&A.

Time permitting, a VR presentation using various night sky apps

Observation of select evening targets through a Celestron C11 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope

OBJECTIVES

Give attendees an understanding of the expanse of the universe by illustrating the vast distances that exist between celestial bodies.
To give a further understanding of how big these objects are compared to others.
Demonstrate the speeds that are and would be required to travel to other planets, galaxies and beyond.

TARGETS FOR THE EVENING

Saturn
Jupiter
Various stars

ACTIVITY

Brief talk and slide presentation on the size, speed and distance of our universe Using VR headset, view the universe from a perspective not possible here on earth.

Move outside to observe the evenings targets through an 11”telescope.

Please note that the programme is subject to change and all children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Athenry Mad Festival 2018

Athenry goes M.A.D. from Thursday 20th September until Sunday 23rd September 2018 with a programme of events that's suitable for all ages to enjoy. Experience this multidisciplinary event in locations throughout the town and discover the Arts from exhibitions, writing workshops, music and drama. This year's event also incorporates Culture Night 2018 which adds to the MAD weekend festivities. All Culture Night activities are free to attend and inclusive to all.

Thursday 20th September

Event: Festival Opening

Location: Amicitia, Old Church Street.

Time: 6:00pm

Join us as we celebrate the opening of the M.A.D Festival 2018 and meet local artists who will be exhibiting during the event and live in and around Athenry. The evening will showcase the various events and activities over the weekend. Bring your friends and family to Amicitia and discover everything that's M.A.D. in Athenry.

Event: Padraig Stevens & Leo Moran SOLD OUT

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: Doors open 8:00pm

Date: Thursday 20th September

Admission €12.00 Age: 12+

The Saw Doctors, Christy Moore and Michael English have all had success with his songs but if you want to hear the original versions of favourites like 'The Tuam Beat' and 'Ireland for the Summer' go along to the Athenry Heritage Centre on September 20th to hear Padraig Stevens perform a selection from his book of songs, when he will be accompanied by Leo Moran, lead guitarist with the Saw Doctors.

Padraig and Leo have recorded an album called 'News from the Old Country' and have been playing shows all over Ireland over the past two years. Later this month the lads will tour the New England area of the United States, playing 14 shows during their three week tour.

The concert takes place in the intimate setting of the Athenry Heritage Centre with numbers limited to 45 seats. A night of original songs is promised, with a few stories and a bit of craic thrown in.

Tickets are available on Eventbrite and cost €12.00 plus a booking fee.

Culture Night Friday 21st September

This year's M.A.D Festival incorporates Culture Night 2018 with events being held throughout the town. All Culture Night events are free to attend however, please note some of the activities have specific age requirements. Check out the listings for any age restrictions and children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The Athenry Heritage Centre has introduced ticketing through Eventbrite and any tickets required must be booked through their site.

Event: Fairy Garden Workshop with Rachel & Louise

Location: Athenry Library

Time: 3:30pm-5:00pm Age 5yrs-11yrs

Date: Friday 21st September

Create some beautiful accessories for your fairy garden with Rachel & Louise from the Loughrea Craft Club.

Fairy gardening is the latest trend in fairy land! Learn how to create your own fairy garden with tips and hints from Rachel & Louise. Create a number of accessories to add a wow factor to your own fairy garden at home, from a fairy sign post to an adorable rope ladder.

Event: The Rational Regrets of Richie Ryan SOLD OUT

Location: Maddens Forge, Bridge Street

Time: 5:00pm Age 9+ Limited Space, so please arrive early

Date: Friday 21st September

The Rational Regrets of Richie Ryan is a site specific piece of theatre commissioned by Galway County Council. Inspired by old Madden’s Forge, Athenry, the history of the rural blacksmith, lucky charms and travelling entertainers, it charts the life, loves and losses of the fictional Blacksmith Richie Ryan. While Richie spends his days meditatively making, breaking and making again by the fire, our storyteller illuminates the always rational yet often regretful decisions that have landed him here, alone amongst the ‘lucky’ horse shoes and broken bellows, forgotten by time itself.

New work by Galway based artist James Riordan.

There is limited seating for this event, so please order your tickets through Eventbrite. Admission is free.

Event: Athenry Music School Present Camerata

Location: Upstairs in Gills Bar, Old Church Street

Time: 6:00pm, Limited Seating.

Date: Friday 21st September

The Athenry Music School Camerata was formed in 2017 to provide an exciting new environment for our most senior students. They have already performed in the Shannonside Winter Festival in Bunratty Castle, in the Augustinian chapel, Galway and in Athenry. In February 2019, they have been invited to play in the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Under the baton of conductor, Daire Mac Mághnuis, the Camerata's repertoire includes Elgar's Serenade for Strings, St Paul's Suite by Holst and TC Kelly's Three Pieces for Strings.

A poem 'Athenry Re-Lived' composed by Dympna Duddy, will be read on the night by Conor Judge.

Dympna was born in Athenry and educated by the Presentation Sisters. She has traveled extensively and on her return always visits Our Lady's Well to renew her spiritual nature. She wrote her latest poem to relfect life's many and varied blessings.

Event: The Urchins Tale presented by the Gliondar Youth Theatre Group All Ages

Location: Church of Assumption, Church Street, Athenry.

Time: 7:00pm

Gliondar’s Youth Ensemble are proud to present The Urchins Tale, the story of two children on a journey through a dangerous and difficult world carried along by events and tossed about by history. The Youth Ensemble perform this devised new work, inspired by the Brothers Grimm, throughout the town of Athenry.

This is a street theatre performance which will commence outside the Church of Assumption and will be led through the streets of Athenry. The performance ends in the garden of the Athenry Heritage Centre. Please exit the performance at the rear gates of the centre.

Dress warmly and bring a torch.

Event: Ted Talks: Life on the road with Footsbarn Theatre

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 8:00pm Ages 12+

Date: Friday 21st September

Ted Turton talks about life on the road with Footsbarn Theatre in the 1980s.

Ted Turton is a founder member of the Galway Arts Festival and continued his involvement with it for thirty five years including four years as Artistic Director in the nineties. He designed twelve of the early posters for the festival between 1978 and 1999.

Although Ted was working in New York during the summer that Footsbarn Theatre first visited Galway and Clifden in 1979, he met the company a couple of years later when they performed Hamlet at the Galway Arts Festival in 1981. It was after this encounter that Ted ‘ran away with the circus’, joining the company for six years on a World Tour that took him and Footsbarn on an adventure of a lifetime.

Join us for the closing event of Culture Night 2018 and enjoy tales of a journey where Ted travelled the world with a crazy, infuriating and totally inspirational family of many nationalities which today is the world renowned Footsbarn Theatre Company.

Saturday 22nd September

Event: Writing Workshop with Elaine Feeney

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 10:30am-1:30pm Ages 14+

Date: Saturday 22nd September

Writing Workshop with Elaine Feeney

The workshop is a creative writing workshop for teenagers focusing on contemporary writing, building confidence, self-esteem and a greater understanding of page v’s performance poetry. It will entail instruction, in a fun and encouraging way, and some work shopping of students own poems. They will be encouraged to write and perform in the workshop space. The focus will be on developing their voice and will include texts from the State Exams.

Places are limited to ten young people.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to confirm your place.

Event: Kite Making Workshop

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre Garden

Time: 11:00am-1:00pm Age: 3+ Donation on the day

Date: Saturday 22nd September

Come and make your very own kite and then join us on Sunday from 1:30pm for a mass kite flying event in St. Mary's GAA grounds.

Event: Meet Madame Fou, Fortune Teller, Psychic an more.......

Location: See her pop up in locations throughout the town

Time: 12:00pm outside the Town Cafe, Cross Street & various locations in Athenry

Date: Saturday 22nd September

Event: Socky with Alison MacCormaic

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre Ages 5-10yrs Children to be accompanied by a parent/guardian

Time: Pop in 30 minute workshops starting from 2:00pm-2:30pm, 2:50pm-3:20pm, 3:30pm-4:00pm

Date: Saturday 22nd September

Odd socks are found in every home, this workshop reveals creative and ingenious ways to use them up. The children (and parents) are introduced to a range of simple garments designs for toys and dolls, from hats to jackets and dresses to sock pants. Make a new wardrobe for teddy with just a pair of scissors, some imagination and a few recycled socks. (Children may bring their own teddies or small dolls and their own stash of odd socks to use up.) Otherwise materials will be provided including a selection of teddies and dolls as models.

Event: Moth & Butterfly with Orla McGovern ( Spontaneous Theatre) €7.00 €5.00 Concession

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre

Time: 8:30pm

Date: Saturday 22nd September

Moth and Butterfly is a regular gem in the arts calendar of the West. Described as ‘Galway’s warmest arts night”, it combines the art-forms of Storytelling and Improvisation. The stories are a combination of true ‘Moth’ style stories, fiction, and improvised ‘Butterfly’ tales. The night is hosted by the telling ensemble and welcomes audience tellers to join. Stories are up to 9 minutes long and each night they adhere to a different theme - this one is ‘A Fresh Start’. Audience tellers are invited to email if they want to throw their name in the hat for a telling spot. Come join the ensemble for a night of delight. To read more about the event go to Facebook.com/mothandbutterflystories

Sunday 23rd September

Event:The Fairy Fixer with Jay Ryan

Location: Athenry Heritage Centre Ages 3 to 5yrs

Time: 11:00am & 1:00pm

Date: Sunday 23rd September

Is there an injured fairy in your house? Are you worried it won’t be able to look after itself? Call The Fairy Fixer for immediate action!

A fairy has been injured after doing a crash landing. The call for the Fairy Fixer has been sent and soon a newly trained Fairy Fixer arrives to catch the shy fairy and mend her broken wing. He will need lots of help from the children, and a little bit of magic.

Event: Ride A Bike, Fly A Kite: Family Event

Location: St. Mary's GAA Pitch, Athenry

Time: 1:30pm-4:30pm

Date: Sunday 23rd September