Connect with us

News

Another great line up of artists and musicians for this year’s K-FEST

Published

on

0229464_Photo_by_David_Hegarty_19461.jpg

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

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.

Advertisement

News

Con O’Leary: Killarney loses a vibrant and popular personality

Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce has led the tributes to the late Con O’Leary, an extremely popular and very successful businessman in the town, who passed away in the […]

Published

on

Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce has led the tributes to the late Con O’Leary, an extremely popular and very successful businessman in the town, who passed away in the early hours of Sunday.

Con was a vibrant and popular personality in Killarney where he operated The Laurels on Main Street, a thriving bar and restaurant, which he inherited following the passing of his father, Thado.
The business organisation said from a social perspective, The Laurels became the beating heart of the town and it was a landmark at the Market Cross in the same way as Clery’s clock was in the capital city.
Chamber said Con’s passing really marks the end of an era as he was one of a golden age of inspirational local business people who developed and built Killarney, through hard work, bravery and great commercial flair, and helped create the wonderful tourist attraction and holiday destination it is today.
“Con was very proud of Killarney and he played a very active part in progressing the town at many levels.
“He was a man that was never short of great ideas and his contribution to the business life of the town and as a director of Killarney Race Company was immense,” Chamber said.
“He was ahead of his time in many respects with the introduction by what became known as “the singing lounge” many years ago and The Laurels always led by example through its successes in the annual Killarney Looking Good competition”.
The business representative organisation noted that the O’Leary family has always been very supporting of the town and Con’s daughter, Kate, was a very dynamic Chamber President and is still a very valued member of the executive.
Chamber expressed deep sympathy to Con’s wife, Anne, children Kate, Niall, Tara and Lorna, sons-in-law, grandchildren, sisters, relatives and friends as well as the dedicated staff in The Laurels, past and present, who Con always had great time for and a great rapport with.

Continue Reading

News

All Roads Lead To Kerry For National Road Safety Conference

Kerry County Council is to host a two-day road safety conference at the INEC Killarney on May 28 and 29. The ‘Safer Roads’ road safety conference is an inter-agency event […]

Published

on

Kerry County Council is to host a two-day road safety conference at the INEC Killarney on May 28 and 29.

The ‘Safer Roads’ road safety conference is an inter-agency event focused on improving road safety, reducing traffic-related incidents, and sharing knowledge and best practices for safer road use. It encompasses various strategies and efforts across multiple domains, including road design, engineering, enforcement, forensic collision investigation, technology, education, collision trends, occupational driving, cycling and scooting, e-mobility, active & sustainable travel and on-road events.

In addition to this, AI, Virtual Reality and Driver Simulation will play a significant role at the conference, in improving safety by predicting and preventing accidents, optimizing traffic, and aiding the development of autonomous vehicles.

This ‘Safer Roads’ conference is a non-public event where road safety professionals, speakers and service providers from across Ireland, other EU countries and the UK will attend, including transportation experts, government and local authority officials, roads policing and vehicle inspection agencies, road safety advocates, educators and promoters, collision responders, cycling bodies and community safety networks.

Kerry County Council’s Road Safety Officer Declan Keogh said:
“Road safety has evolved over the years to a much broader scope, in terms of e-mobility, sustainability, technology and engineering for instance. It’s not just about the road or the vehicle anymore, but also about how technology, human behaviour, enforcement, and education intersect to reduce risks and prevent collisions. The ‘Safer Roads’ conference will involve and include every branch of the road safety tree, right across the board, and in doing so, we aim to increase road safety awareness, improve road user behaviour and decrease the collisions and carnage we see on our roads every day,”

The two-day conference also provides an opportunity for exhibitors to attend, and interested state bodies, businesses and service providers are invited to exhibit at the event to showcase their products and services and engage with delegates and officials at the conference.

Further information about the conference and how to register or exhibit can be found here. https://www.kerrycoco.ie/safer-roads-road-safety-conference/

Continue Reading

Last News

Sport