Portumna gearing up for Shorelines festival
The seventh Shorelines Portumna Arts Festival will take place from September 18-21, offering locals and visitors a broad programme of literature, theatre, music, performance and visual arts.
Galway’s We Banjo 3 kick off the concerts at 8.30pm on Friday, September 19, with their electrifying music, ranging from bluegrass to trad. On September 20 singer-songwriter Eleanor McEvoy will perform at The Church of Ireland and on September 21 at 5pm, classical pianist, Finghin Collins will perform Chopin at Portumna Castle. Finghin will also facilitate masterclasses for piano students on Sunday morning. Admission to concerts is €15/€12.
Meanwhile, Nóirín Ní Riain, famed for performing the Gregorian Chant, will sing at the Shorelines Mass on Sunday, September 21.
Drama will include Synge’s The Shadow of the Glen by local group, Half-Day Thursday, under director Jim Hynes. This staging, against Portumna Castle, is a Culture Night event on September 19 and admission is free. On September 20, Emigration Road, devised, written and directed by Eamon Grennan, will be performed by Curlew Theatre Company in the Workhouse
Literary events will include writing and poetry workshops, and the annual Literary Brunch as well as the Nicholas Treacy Memorial Recitation competition. Guests include award-winning writers Julian Gough and Niamh Boyce, poet, songwriter and dramatist Pete Mullineaux, and poet James Harpur.
Portumna Workhouse will host an exhibition of art, photography and sculpture until September 28. An additional attraction on September 21 will be the Portumna Vintage Club display at The Irish Workhouse Centre, along with a demonstration from blacksmith and coppersmith Mark Wilson.
On September 20 a family day, with street theatre and spectacle, will include Sorcaluba’s aerial performances, story-telling, adream-catcher workshop, games and face painting.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.