Lisa Hannigan, Seán O’Sé, Kate Ellis & Shahzad Ismaily announced as new collaborators for A City & A Garden – kicking off this week

A City and A Garden, a free culture and music event linking songs to city streets and gardens, will begin this Friday, June 11, in Dublin and Cork.

Taking place at the National Botanical Gardens and in two areas in Cork City, the event organised by Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival and Body & Soul will provide two trails in each city for attendees to walk through and listen to music and short stories through smartphone technology.

The likes of Tolü Makay, Dorothy Murphy, Hilary Rose, Conor Lovett, Seán Mac Erlaine, Fish Go Deep and The Quiet Club will feature as the voice actors and musicians for the event, with writing from Lisa McInerney, Louise Hegarty, Melatu Uche Okorie and Gavin Corbett also joining.

Lisa Hannigan and Cork writer Danny Denton are producing a small piece for children, 'We Are Trees', that will be available in both Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork and the National Botanic Gardens. It is a re-imagining of  the poem 'The Song of Amhairgin', about "reconnecting with the trees and the land, and renewing the ancient vow to live sympathetically with nature."

The four walks include Sundays Well Road (Rose Construction hoarding) to Red Abbey Square and Mardyke Bridge (Skate Park) to Bell’s Field, both in Cork City, along with the two routes at the Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin.

These multi-disciplinary events are a part of Brightening Air (Coiscéim Coiligh), a nationwide, ten-day season of arts experiences from the Arts Council of Ireland.

Details are available from acityandagarden.ie. Watch the trailer for one of the Cork routes below: