News
Another great line up of artists and musicians for this year’s K-FEST
By Michelle Crean
Organisers of this year's K-FEST Arts Festival from June 3 to 6 can't wait for yet another great weekend celebrating emerging artists and musicians.
EXHIBITION: Visitors pictured at a previous K-FEST in Killorglin viewing the art on display. Photo: David Hegarty
MUSIC: Derry band TOUTS pictured performing at a previous K-FEST in Killorglin. Photo: David Hegarty
EXHIBITION: Visitors pictured at a previous K-FEST in Killorglin viewing the art on display. Photo: David Hegarty
MUSIC: Derry band TOUTS pictured performing at a previous K-FEST in Killorglin. Photo: David Hegarty
The June Bank Holiday weekend marks the ninth chapter of the four day festival with an all-new schedule of events, featuring a gallery trail of over 60 visual artists, 30 live bands, spoken word artists, film, crafts, buskers, dancers, workshops, street entertainment, and a multitude of family activities. All the events at K-FEST are offered at no or low cost to the public.
This year organisers had a particularly tough selection process with the artists chosen to exhibit in their pop-up spaces, as they had such a high number of online submissions, and could only take on 60 from the bunch!
Approximately 300 artists submit each year and 60+ are selected to display at K-FEST. At least 15% of spots are ring-fenced for Kerry artists and all artists are being paid a fee in line with The Arts Council Paying The Artists Policy.
Every artist selected for K-FEST is entered into the Screaming Pope Prize automatically.
"This prize is chosen by our team and also by selected judge/judges who differ from year to year," Darragh Kinch of Kinch Design Studio and Marketing Manager for K-FEST, said.
"It is a tribute to their talent and the prize for the winner is €1,000 with four runners up prizes of €100 each and automatic acceptance into the next year's festival to exhibit! It is an opportunity for an emerging artist to maybe try something new with their work with an open space to experiment with exhibition space.
Last year it was a local artist from Tralee, James Hayes, that took the Screaming Pope Prize accolade at the festival.
"James is an incredibly talented painter, and a very deserving winner of our prize last time around. We are looking forward to seeing a new series of paintings from James at this year's festival. We also have a new judge to help with the selection process for this year."
PLENTY TO EXPERIENCE
The festival opens with The Poetry of Comedy Friday night, in which audience members are invited to recite verses that will make everyone titter and laugh. Spoken word events and film take place through the weekend alongside an open mic Rambling House on the Bank Holiday Monday. Pubs across Killorglin will morph into cutting-edge music venues with some of Ireland's best up-and-coming bands and musicians hitting the stage. A few names include Lemonade Shoelace, Naked Lungs and Everything Shook. K-FEST in collaboration with BIMM Institute Dublin will welcome seven student bands to K-FEST, where they will perform and create a live video production. K-FEST’s family and street programme this year includes buskers, art demos, kids market, circus skills, science, yoga, dance, Punch and Judy and the Fairy Trail.
DANCE
Continuing to support dance this year, there will be a Contemporary Sean Nós Dance Performance with award winning artist Sibéal Davitt and Creative Dance Project Film called ‘Imprints’, choreographed and created by dance artist Carol O’Connor will be shown over the weekend in one of the screening areas.
"We have visual artists across all disciplines, including painting, sculpture, print, performance, textiles, graphic design, photography, film, sound art and audio-visual. Selected artists show their work in curated, bespoke pop-up galleries throughout the town’s disused commercial and private spaces," Art Director Rochelle Lucey added.
"We are aiming to experiment a little more with some performance art this year. We will have performative spaces in a couple of our galleries with a diverse collection of performance art and dance."
The arts strand will include a number of artist-led workshops, one in leather-making being held by master crafter Conor Holden and a printmaking workshop with visual artist Aoife Claffey. Limited spaces available, booking is essential, visit www.kfest.ie.
NEW MURAL
"We will also be welcoming a new permanent fixture to the streets of the town of Killorglin with the arrival of a beautiful new mural by ‘Ominous Omin’ in the days leading up to the June Bank Holiday this year. The mural will be a tribute to Máirín Cregan, a historical figure with strong roots in Killorglin, and will be a testament to her life and work. She was an Irish nationalist who was involved in the 1916 Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence. She later made her name writing for children, as well as writing plays and novels for adults."
Another mural, created in support of President Volodymr Zelensky and the people of Ukraine, will be installed for the duration of the festival. Created by Aches, a Dublin based street artist, it will be temporarily installed in one of the gallery spaces.
Since 2013, K-FEST has housed over 800 visual artists and approximately 4,000 original works of art along with a number of murals on the trail throughout the town of Killorglin. With an attendance of more than 10,000 people over the June Bank Holiday weekend, K-FEST affords new and emerging artists from Ireland and beyond the ability to showcase their work to a diverse audience, providing opportunities for patronage, partnerships, and community building with fellow artists and local residents.
To see the full programme of events go to www.kfest.ie.
News
New bio-energy therapy clinic open on Beech Road
Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily? Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which […]
Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily?
Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which must adapt to this emergency mode.
Muscles tense up, heart beats faster, vessels get compressed, blood pressure rises, body retains water etc. Most of us subject our bodies to this emergency mode without being aware of it.
Irina Sharapova MH has just opened a new Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy clinic at Horan’s Health Store on Beech Road by appointment each Friday.
Both Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy, support the body’s natural ability to heal.
During a herbal consultation the therapist suggests necessary corrections to the client’s diet and lifestyle aiming at reducing the elements that contribute to inflammation, stiffness and pain, and increasing the elements that aid healing.
Then they prepare herbal remedies specific to the client. Client’s medications are also examined to ensure that there are no conflicts with the herbal treatment.
Herbs support healing by relaxing the body and improving sleep; they are used to treat various ailments from digestive and reproductive issues to insomnia and migraines.
Bio-Energy therapy is a complementary non-contact treatment that helps to release tension from the body caused by injuries, traumas or stress.
During a Bio-Energy session the therapist scans the client’s body for signals that indicate that the energy is not flowing smoothly – these are the areas that have reacted to the Client’s emotions of fear, worry, hurt, anger, sadness etc.
The therapist “clears out” these areas until the energy flow feels smooth. Bio-Energy is helpful in the treatment of physical and emotional pain and other ailments.
It is suitable for people who do not like massages and other treatments that are performed directly on the body.
Disclaimer: Alternative therapies are not substitutes for medical advice.
For further information or to schedule an appointment please contact Irina at 086 9878941 or via email at herbsandtherapy@gmail.com. Website: https://www.herbsandtherapies.ie
News
Spotted an otter lately?
Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals. The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching […]
Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching a new National Otter Survey and has teamed up with researchers in Queen’s University Belfast and the National Biodiversity Data Centre to collect and collate otter records from right across the country.
The new survey will map otters and compare results to the last survey, carried out in 2010-11.
NPWS teams will be looking for characteristic signs of otters at over 900 sites throughout the country, including rivers, lakes and the coast.
Members of the public are asked to keep their eyes peeled for otters and to get involved in this national survey by adding their sightings to the survey results.
Otters are mostly active at night and most typically seen at dawn or dusk. They may be spotted from bridges swimming in rivers or along the rocky seashore.
Otters are brown, about 80 cm (30 inches) long and can be seen gliding along the water surface before diving to show their distinctive long pointed tail which is almost as long again as their body.
Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:
“The otter is one of Ireland’s most elusive animals so getting as many people involved in the survey as possible will be important if we are to get good coverage. Otters are rarely seen, so instead, over the coming months, NPWS staff will be searching for otter tracks and signs.”
Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:
“Otters have large, webbed feet and leave distinctive footprints, but these can be hard to find. Fortunately, otters mark their territory using droppings known as spraints. Otters deposit spraints conspicuously on boulders along riverbanks, logs on lake shores or the rocky high tide line. Spraints can be up to 10 cm or 3 inches long, black through to white but commonly brown, tarry to powdery in consistency and straight or curved making them tricky to identify. Luckily, they commonly contain fish bones and crayfish shells which are the otters favoured diet making them easy to tell apart from the droppings of birds and other mammals.”
The otter and its habitat are protected under the EU Habitats Directive which requires that Ireland reports on the status of the species every six years. The next report is due in 2025.
The otter suffered significant declines across much of continental Europe during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s but remained widespread in Ireland. The most recent Irish survey (2010-2011) found signs of otter from all counties of Ireland and from sea-shore to mountain streams.
The otter hunts in water, but spends much of its time on land, and as a result is vulnerable to river corridor management such as culverting, dredging and the clearance of bankside vegetation, as well as pollution, pesticides, oil spillages, coastal developments and road traffic.
New bio-energy therapy clinic open on Beech Road
Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress...
Spotted an otter lately?
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