Expect more socially engaging events and workshops in Offaly as the weather warms and we venture more into the outdoors!

In the open air | Faoin Spéir – Offaly, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, is a collaborative partnership led by Offaly County Council’s Arts Office with Birr Theater and Arts Center and Birr Festivals Collective, Tullamore Arts Center & Lough Boora Parklands and continues until the end of the month.

The aim is to grow the exciting and innovative program of outdoor events held across County Offaly, ahead of the opening of the town’s new arts center next year. In the open air | Faoin Spéir – Offaly will generate a sustained and curated program of multi-disciplinary and inclusive arts activities in public or open spaces in towns and communities across Ireland until the end of April 2022.

A special day for music lovers and families is taking place over the Easter weekend, Saturday 16th April called “Music In the Open” with Music Generation Offaly/Westmeath and Donlon Dance Company!

This series of musical workshops and dance performances taking place around Lloyd Town Park in Tullamore, invites the public to participate in drum circles and will provide a feast of other musical pleasures, including an intergenerational ukulele session with local musicians Andy Spearpoint and Darren Brown. .

Taking place between 12pm and 4pm, it’s the perfect event for the whole family. It’s a great time of year to visit Tullamore City Park, as well as experience and learn about exciting music and dancing! Pre-booked tickets for these workshops are available free of charge on the www.birrtheatre.com website. Limited places, so book now!

Fresh out of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, a project titled Rewind FastForward Record. This project explores the contemporary issues of being LGBTQI+ in Offaly and the hidden stories of some of Ireland’s most infamous gay and lesbian heroes and is hosted by Hannah Tiernan and Brendan Fox. An exhibition of flags designed by Midlands Youth Group LGBTQI+ during a series of workshops will take place in Aras an Chontae from April 19-30. www.intheopenoffaly.ie.

Host Hannah Tiernan is a researcher, writer and visual artist. She holds a BA in Photographic Media and an MA in Art in the Contemporary World from NCAD and is an associate editor at GCN Magzine. Her main area of ​​interest is contemporary Irish LGBTQ+ history and the expansion of voices within the Irish LGBTQ+ community. From 2018 to 2020, Hannah was a researcher for the ACTIVE ARCHIVE – SLOW INSTITUTION initiative with Project Arts Center and was the lead researcher for the Queer-in-Progress Timeline exhibition in 2020.

“In the Open | Faoin Spéir and Spectacular Vernacular emerges from the foundations of artistic cultures that already exist between our towns and in County Offaly; examining the traditions of Offaly and its rural Arcadia through the lens of contemporary practitioners who live or artists and culturalists whose practice can be associated with the local environment.These star artists share a united association with new blood, new cultures and potential who look to a common future and ponder, what collective heritage can it be possible for our community to consider today?”

For more information on the above artists and their In the Open | Faoin Spéir and Spectacular Vernacular PRESS HERE.

To learn more about In the Open | FaoinSpéir and Spectacular Vernacular, visit www.intheopenoffaly.ie Where PRESS HERE.