By Sean Moriarty

Visitors and locals alike will have to have their eyes peeled on July 17 when an unusual dance act is set to ‘pop-up’ in town.

Dance Artist Rob Heaslip is reviving the cultural tradition of 'The Strawboys' made famous by the Wren
Boys who once paraded through the streets, towns and fields of Ireland.

From July 14 to July 19, pop up performances of ‘The Strawboys’ will take place all over Kerry in town centres and rural settings such as village squares, carparks and forests.

Unsuspecting audiences will see a luminous strawboy enter a location, before being joined by the rest of the cast to perform a noisy and colourful performance which pays homage to the traditions and costumes of the Wren Boys.

The Killarney Advertiser can confirm that 'The Strawboys' will perform in Killarney on July 17.

However, the exact location is a closely guarded secret.

“As it is a pop up performance we can’t confirm the location as the whole idea behind ‘The Strawboys’ is that the performance just suddenly starts and surprises people in outdoor locations,” said Heaslip.

Heaslip works internationally as a dance artist, choreographer, dancer, movement director and dance teacher. Strawboys is the second work in his trilogy, exploring rituals of death, life and birth amongst the Gaels, the people on the north-western edge of Europe.