wishes to thank

Age & Opportunity

Bealtaine is coordinated by Age & Opportunity, the Irish national organisation working to promote greater participation by older people in society. Check out the Age & Opportunity web site.

Creating a New Old

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Festival Highlights in 2011

Prime Years

Detail of image by Edmund Clark 'Henry Allingham, 109 Years' from Centenarians series Presented as part of Bealtaine, the national festival celebrating creativity in older age. Prime Years explores the many aspects of ageing through images made from the individual perspectives of 12 artists from around the world.

Visual Arts Trail

Detail from 'Tide and Time' by Ciarán Tuite The Bealtaine Art Trail will be hosted by several galleries in Dublin with the aim of highlighting the work of older artists and encouraging artists of all ages to engage with ageing.

Constant Thread

Detail of Clones lace by Orla Breslin

As part of the Crafts Council of Ireland’s Year of Craft 2011, Bealtaine is celebrating older craftspeople who work from the traditions of weaving with a unique exhibition in the beautiful Rathfarnham Castle. These traditions which include lace and rug-making, all begin with a thread, showing how one thing leads to another, simply at first but given time with greater complexity and virtuosity.

ReLive

Old photograph from participant in Relive show 'A story to call my own' Among Cork Opera House's packed month-long programme are Welsh theatre company Re-Live, who bring their unique autobiographical show "A Story To Call My Own" from Wales.

Wild Bees' Nest

Toney McGaley and Aileen Lambert during recording of traditional folk singing In Bees' Nest artists Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert have worked the Goilin singers in a unique collaboration with the National Library and the Irish Traditional Music archive. Initially the group researched songs they already sang and presented their findings in sold out public performance in December 2010.

Ink

Image from Ink exhibition by Aidan Kelly The exhibition Ink will also tour to a number of venues in Tipperary during the month of May.

Here We Are Again Still

Megs Morley) A moving, funny and inspiring play about two broken men trying to make their way back from the margins, ‘Here we are again still’ embarks on a nationwide tour this May. Directed by Andrew Flynn (Decadent Theatre), the cast features Eamonn Hunt (‘The Running Mate’), Andy Kellegher (‘Playboy of the Western World’) and Bríd Ní Neachtain (‘Cre Na Cille’, ‘Ros na Run’).

Bealtaine Film Tour

Meryl Streep plays Julia Child in 'Julie & Julia' and does something comical with a goose Every year during Bealtaine, the hugely popular film tour takes place. This year’s main feature film ‘Julie & Julia’ will be screened in venues around the country, courtesy of access>CINEMA and the Irish Film Institute, with support from Seven Seas, and will be launched at the IFI on 4 May.

Dawn Chorus

Jeff Harvey) Following an extraordinary debut event on the Culdaff beach in Donegal in May 2009, Dawn Chorus is returning to waterfronts all across Ireland for Bealtaine 2011 on Sunday 29 May. The Association of Irish Choirs and Active Retirement Ireland are encouraging choirs throughout the country to open their doors to retirement groups, to develop a short concert together and to sing on a scenic waterfront across the country to mark the end of the Bealtaine

Fruitcake Tour

Steve Neale) Want a good night (or afternoon) out? From Malin Head to Skibbereen, in theatres and care settings, Bealtaine is touring plays including Alice Barry’s ‘Fruitcake’, commissioned by Meath County Council