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Bealtaine Festival

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Ireland’s largest multi-disciplinary national arts festival and a major innovator in the area of arts and creativity globally.

What is the Bealtaine Festival?

Bealtaine is a month long festival in May featuring performances, exhibitions, discussions, workshops and readings by artists working in different art forms all over Ireland.

How does it work?

Bealtaine Festival engages people from all over Ireland to foster and inspire creativity among older people and to promote the skills, experiences and exposure that can lead to a rich creative life. You can enjoy all that Bealtaine has to offer whether you are an audience member, an artist, or participating in creative projects in your community.

Older people and younger people dancing in Meeting House Square in Temple Bar, as part of a 2018 Bealtaine Festival event called a Life of Play.

Image from A Life of Play, one of our 2018 Bealtaine Festival events in Temple Bar.

Photographer Tony Kinlan
Image from our 2016 Bealtaine Festival Voltage event

Image from our 2016 Bealtaine Festival Voltage event

Image from our 2017 event in Limerick City Gallery of Art

Image from our 2017 event in Limerick City Gallery of Art

Bealtaine works on two parallel and interdependent strands:

  • The in-house programme, curated by Age & Opportunity’s Arts team, aimed at addressing key strategic priorities
  • The national programme, made up of hundreds of events organised and curated locally by a wide variety of groups. 

Events take place all around the country each May, and include: theatre tours, choral performances, intergenerational story projects with schools and care settings, workshops in dance, literature, writing, drawing, artist residencies, craft workshops, storytelling projects, visual arts commissions, film screenings, exhibitions, museum tours and projects and much, much more.

How can I get involved?

Anyone can organise a Bealtaine event in their own community and there is lots of helpful info, resources, and inspiration on the website festival resources page here.

For more information and to get involved in the next Bealtaine Festival visit bealtaine.ie.

Details about registration for next year’s festival will be available in early 2023.

Visit the Bealtaine Festival website

Arts Initiatives:

Bealtaine Festival

Bealtaine Festival

A month long festival in May featuring performances, exhibitions, discussions, workshops and readings by artists, and community groups, working in different art forms all over Ireland. Find out more here.

The Gathering

The Gathering

An event bringing together our local and national Bealtaine Festival partners for a day of networking, inspiration, discussion and feedback on the festival. Find out more.

Cultural Companions

Cultural Companions

Creates local networks of like-minded people interested in arts and culture who can accompany each other to cultural events. Find out more.

Focus Groups

Focus Groups

We are working with a number of groups to ensure our work is collaborative and inclusive. Find out more here.

Artists’ Professional Development Training

Artists’ Professional Development Training

Providing continuing professional development and training for artists’. Find out more.

Artists' Residencies

Artists' Residencies

This opportunity creates access to the arts for older people in care settings as well as supporting artists working in care settings. Find out more here.

Supporting Networks and Best Practice

Supporting Networks and Best Practice

This initiative aims to support organisations and artists who work with older people and to promote best practice. Find out more.

Access

Access

We are working to ensure our events and initiatives, and those outside the organisation, are as accessible as possible. Find out more.

Azure

Azure

Azure explores how people with dementia-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and the people who care for them, can have a deeper involvement in cultural institutions and can participate in cultural activities. Find out more.

Creative Exchanges

Creative Exchanges

Training course for participants to plan and facilitate arts activities for older people in care settings. Find out more here.

Creative supports for Care Homes

Creative supports for Care Homes

We are developing creative supports for care settings in order to ensure easier access to the arts for the residents and visitors of those settings. Find out more.

Arts and Creative Charter for Older People

Arts and Creative Charter for Older People

Our charter aims to raise the standard of arts practice in relation to older people and to create confidence in relation to participating in the arts. Find out more.

Research

Research

We are working to ensure our programmes and initiatives are informed and driven by best practice Find out more.

Arts Initiatives:

Access

Access

We are working to ensure our events and initiatives, and those outside the organisation, are as accessible as possible. Find out more.

Bealtaine Festival

Bealtaine Festival

A month long festival in May featuring performances, exhibitions, discussions, workshops and readings by artists, and community groups, working in different art forms all over Ireland. Find out more here.

Artists' Residencies

Artists' Residencies

This opportunity creates access to the arts for older people in care settings as well as supporting artists working in care settings. Find out more here.

Creative Exchanges

Creative Exchanges

Training Course for participants to plan and facilitate arts activities for older people in care settings. Find out more here. 

Cultural Companions

Cultural Companions

Creates local networks of like-minded people interested in arts and culture who can accompany each other to cultural events. Find out more.

Azure

Azure

Azure explores how people with dementia-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s, and the people who care for them, can have a deeper involvement in cultural institutions and can participate in cultural activities. Find out more.

The Gathering

The Gathering

An event bringing together our local and national Bealtaine Festival partners for a day of networking, inspiration, discussion and feedback on the festival. Find out more here. Find out more.

Focus Groups

Focus Groups

We are working with a number of groups to ensure our work is collaborative and inclusive. Find out more here.

Artists’ Professional Development Training

Artists’ Professional Development Training

Providing continuing professional development and training for artists’. Find out more.

Supporting Networks and Best Practice

Supporting Networks and Best Practice

This initiative aims to support organisations and artists who work with older people and to promote best practice. Find out more.

Creative supports for Care Homes

Creative supports for Care Homes

We are developing creative supports for care settings in order to ensure easier access to the arts for the residents and visitors of those settings. Find out more.

Arts and Creative Charter for Older People

Arts and Creative Charter for Older People

Our charter aims to raise the standard of arts practice in relation to older people and to create confidence in relation to participating in the arts. Find out more.

Research

Research

We are working to ensure our programmes and initiatives are informed and driven by best practice Find out more.

We believe that, whether you are 8 or 80 years old, we all should have access and opportunities to attend and participate in the arts and to realise our creative potential. Fresh thinking, bold experimentation and creativity are all fundamental to delivering a high quality of life for older people.

Research shows that arts programmes involving music, visual arts and drama, among other activities, have a profound influence on the quality of life of older people, with positive impacts on health, psychological well-being, confidence and autonomy as well as other benefits such as:

  • happiness
  • mental wellbeing
  • reduced stress
  • improved cognition
  • sense of identity and personhood
  • increased self-esteem and confidence
  • reduced boredom.

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Principal Funders:

Link to HSE website Link to Sport Ireland website Link to Arts Council website

Our Principal Funders:

Link to HSE websiteLink to Sport Ireland websiteLink to Arts Council website