Welcome to The Art Of Mental Health – the theme for 2024's First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival.

The nationwide festival returns for its 13th edition in the new year, running from January 5-14, with the official, immersive and highly anticipated programme released today.

Look forward to First Fortnight during the first two weeks of January, with the support of a wide-reaching collection of creative works and events aiming to tackle the stigma attached to mental ill health and promote mental health wellbeing through art and culture.

The First Fortnight 2024 Festival will feature some of the most creative and groundbreaking Irish minds at a variety of country-wide events, a majority of which are either free or pay what you can.

The charity partners once more with its longstanding supporters to make the events possible: St. Patricks Mental Health Services, Mental Health Ireland, Spunout, The Arts Council of Ireland and SHINE being just some.

First Fortnight 2024 will also see the festival commence a spotlight series featuring collaborations in counties Donegal, Kildare and Limerick on inclusive, emotive, interactive and pure entertaining events, bringing a magical programme to each district. More information to follow on this series and its many enthralling events!

Maria Fleming, CEO of First Fortnight, shares, “Research has found that art can improve mental health, slow cognitive decline, build self-esteem, and enhance one’s quality of life. Art can impart insight, decrease stress, heal trauma, increase memory and neurosensory capacities, and improve interpersonal relationships. We want to break the stigma and we are doing this through art and cultural action.”

First Fortnight has officially revealed the fifty-plus event programme today, and we’ve compiled some of the events, workshops and experiences you won’t want to miss.

Opening day commences on January 5 with a brilliant evening of celebrations. A festival first specially commissioned for the festival by First Fortnight and The Arts Council of Ireland, SILVA LUMINA (Lights of Growth) is presented in partnership with the National Botanic Gardens and the Office of Public Works.

SILVA LUMINA / Tom Meskell. Picture Credit: Amayo Photography

Arrive after dark and explore this luminous landscape of lanterns in Dublin’s National Botanic Gardens crafted by Mayo based artist Tom Meskell and fifty community participants, along with Lantern Workshops with St Patrick’s Mental Health Services led by lantern maker Selene Murphy. The workshops are free and online, taking place on Saturday, January 6 and 13. Registration is available online!

As the festival kicks off on Nollaig na mBan weekend, First Fortnight is striving to mark this traditional day of significance with three events, in partnership with National Women’s Council of Ireland, Mental Health Reform, Mental Health Ireland and HSE, each contributing in its own unique way to The Art Of Mental Health.

Festival-goers can look forward to ‘Women’s Mental Health,’ presented by Mental Health Engagement and Recovery, a panel discussion featuring several stakeholders in women’s mental health discussing the current standing of mental health care for women in Ireland and forward action. The event is free and takes place on January 6 at Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre, Banqueting Hall.

But the night doesn’t have to end there – later that evening, panel discussion ‘The Sea and Me,’ led by CEO Maria Fleming, will showcase women who turned to the sea for solace, motivation, and joy, including authors Clare Walsh and Ruth Fitzmaurice.

Concluding the trilogy of Nollaig na mBan-curated events is Irish Women in Harmony, who will give a very special performance in Smock Alley alongside Barbara Brennan, an inspirational ‘thought leader’ in the field of Mental Health, who will share her story. Tickets are priced €25/20.

Selvage Poster / Credit: Julia Dunin

Elsewhere, the festival presents onstage events for all to immerse themselves in. Dive into SELVAGE, a fast, funny show about unravelling tightly wound modern anxieties nominated for 2 Irish Times Theatre Awards and produced by Brú Theatre. Find the live show at Smock Alley Theatre, Main Space on two consecutive nights, January 12 and 13; tickets are priced at €20 with a concession price of €18.

Presented by First Fortnight in partnership with Project Arts Centre and An Grianán, GHOSTS – written and performed by Gemma Walker-Farren and produced by Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company – is a one-person storytelling theatre piece all about our relationship with fear and how this takes many different forms over the course of a lifetime. The Project Arts Centre plays host on January 8 and 9, with tickets priced at €15.

GHOSTS / Gemma Walker

GHOSTS will also play in Kildare and Donegal as part of First Fortnight’s new spotlight series, featuring collaborations with local art centres across all districts. More information on the spotlight series events to follow!

Elsewhere, First Fortnight Fringe Award 2023 winner DOPA-MEAN GIRL, the musical journey of a woman with late diagnosis ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), will come to life in Smock Alley Theatre Boys School on January 10-13. Tickets are priced €15.

In partnership with Wexford Arts Centre, Trawled, a true story of resilience, is a one-man bio drama, written and performed by Eoin Ryan and staged at Wexford Arts Centre on January 19 and 20. General admissions is €20 (adults) with a €18 concession price.

Plus, the award-winning We’ll Still Be Here, the brainchild of Sam Armstrong, presents a cycling cast of musicians occupying the theatre, playing entirely improvised music for 7 hours. There will also be a microphone at the front of the stage - just for you! Read your poetry, tell us about your day, or share whatever your heart and mind desires.

We’ll Still Be Here earned Best Production at the Irish Society Drama Awards (ISDA) 2023. The performance will take place on January 14 12pm to 7pm at Smock Alley Theatre and is free to attend. Expected duration is between 5.5 to 7 hours, with each movement of the piece an hour long – you can come and go, but are encouraged to pick a movement and stay for its duration for the best experience possible.

More festival staples include the much-loved annual favourite, Therapy Sessions, hosted in its original home, The Workman’s Club on Friday, January 12. In partnership with SpunOut and Minding Creative Minds, First Fortnight welcomes the return of acclaimed poet Stephen James Smith as the event’s leader.

Of the annual event, Smith says, “Therapy Sessions is a powerful, moving, reciprocal dynamic of connectivity between the performer and the audience and I am very excited for us all to be able to witness again the special moments this event gifts us all.”

Tickets for Therapy Sessions are priced €15 and will once again also take place in Wexford at The Wexford Arts Centre on January 11 and Belfast at The Duncairn Arts Centre on January 13. While there is no official admission charge, there is a suggestion donation of €7.

Plus, look forward to Ó Bhéal’s monthly poetry and open mic night, returning with its special annual First Fortnight edition. Ó Bhéal starts with the Five Words poetry challenge, followed by performances by Daragh Fleming and Sarah Barnsley for the hybrid event taking place in person at The Hayloft Bar and on zoom on January 8. This is a free event, but registration is necessary to join via zoom.

Partnering with St Patricks Hospital, First Fortnight welcomes the in person return of Cistin (the Irish word for kitchen), a celebration of and nurturing community and connection through music, poetry and performance. The 2024 edition off Cistin is curated by First Fortnight’s Trudie Gorman; a writer,
performance poet and community development worker. The event will be joined on the night by guest performers, including one half of Tebi Rex Dafe Orugbo, a multidisciplinary artist who has achieved international acclaim.

Cistin takes place on January 11 and is a free (or pay what you feel/can), hosted at St Patrick’s University Hospital.

A true standout is sure to be Sam's Collective Queer Open Mic Night, a vibrant showcase celebrating LGBTQIA+ voices through music, poetry, art and more at Wigwam, Dublin on the evening of January 8.

Prep for week two of festival festivities with Sam’s Mental Health Check-In Coffee Morning, set in the cosy Beckett Locke on Sunday, January 7. This free event commences at 10am and is a welcoming space for chats, sharing, and community support over a warm cup of coffee.

In partnership with Dublin Story Slam, 2024 presents another edition of the popular story-telling workshop and open mic storytelling night. Members of the audience can get up and share a true personal story inspired by the theme of the month at Dublin’s Sugar Club, taking place as part of the festival on January 9.

You can sign up in advance by emailing the first line of your story to [email protected], Or let fate decide by popping your name in the bucket on the night! Tickets are priced €13.50.

Partnering with the National Library of Ireland, the festival will present The Pain in My Chest, a workshop by Aine Murray; this interactive workshop with the author is open to school groups and suitable for 1st and 2nd class students. Workshops take place on January 9 – please email [email protected] to book.

Plus, another partnership with the National Library of Ireland sees First Fortnight co-present A Mindfulness Tour Of Seamus Heaney: Listen Now Again, an exhibition exploring Heaney’s work through the archive he and his family donated to the National Library of Ireland in 2011.

Release and breathe with The Art of Letting Go, an interactive community event presented in partnership with Droichead Arts Centre. Participants will engage in a mindful practice; writing something to release or a wish on non-toxic, soluble paper, to be dissolved in the River Boyne. Two sessions feature poetry by Dani Gill and a locally based poet, complemented by music from local musicians.

Plus, an open mic provides a space for attendees to share readings related to the theme of letting go. This cathartic event takes place at the Café Bar, Droichead Arts Centre on January 20 at 12 noon and 2.30pm.

Elsewhere on the festival bill, MUSICAL STRINGS is a project that tells the stories of the connections musicians have through pictures.

Musical Strings - Vj Jaxson and Sammy / Picture Credit: Emily Quinn

In a further first, this coming year the festival is offering a platform for the live launch of Music and the Mind Podcast and once more have their annual film partnerships with IFI and Alliance Francais. Plus, more solo and collective music performances, event-focused conversations and interviews, beach clean-up events and seaside yoga!

Finally, light up the final weekend of the First Fortnight Festival with the dazzling XNTHONY’S BIG GAY BALL with Anthony Keigher, in partnership with An Grianán Theatre on Saturday, January 13. Dive into a world of glitz and pure joy, where glitter reigns supreme. Look forward to spectacular cabaret, comedy, and drag performances by both local and international talents, and an overall unforgettable evening. Tickets are priced €12, with more details surrounding the event to come.

Xnthony Big Gay Ball / Photo Credit: Jakub Gessler

Karl Wallace, Head of Festivals with The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon says of the two-week annual festival, “The work of the festival enables audiences to access the arts in such original and accessible ways.”

Adding onto that, CEO at Mental Health Ireland Martin Rogan shares, “First Fortnight is that perfectly timed boost we all crave as we step over the threshold into a new year, full of promise and potential. It has created a space to reflect and to appreciate the talent and artistry that enhances all of our lives.”

“Working together, we can help to ensure that people feel comfortable having these important conversations with family, friends, in the workplace and in society in general,” says Nicola Byrne, CEO at Shine.

Join First Fortnight in 2024. Enjoy the programme, listen and comment, and jump into the conversation – do your party to chip away at the long-endured stigma surrounding mental ill health with warm, inclusive, informative and immersive events ahead.

Check out the full programme details for First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival, and make sure to share your festival plans with the hashtags #FirstFortnight24 and #TheArtOfMental.