President Catherine Connolly on the Bealtaine festival : "Art transcends boundaries, transcends time, and transcends contrived generational gaps"

President Catherine Connolly hosted a reception at Áras an Uachtaráin to launch the 2026 Bealtaine Festival, Ireland’s national celebration of the arts and ageing. This annual initiative by Age & Opportunity spans the month of May, featuring a programme of performances, exhibitions, discussions, and workshops.

The President was joined by a host of leading figures from the arts, including musicians Adam Clayton, Paul Brady, and Mary Coughlan, as well as Miriam O'Callaghan, Keith Donald, Barry Devlin, and Ollie Jennings.-

“The scale of the achievement of this festival is itself worth pausing on,” said Connolly in her address. “In any given year, Bealtaine comprises some three thousand events, involving up to sixty thousand people, in towns and villages across the country.

President Connolly hosted reception for Bealtaine Festival at Aras an Uachtaráin on April 30th, 2026. Copyright Maizy Kharrazian/www.hotpress.com

"The festival has always carried that double quality, deeply serious about the cultural rights of older people, and entirely unwilling to be solemn about it,” she continued “It is therefore entirely fitting that an arts festival celebrating creative life across the second half of a life would take its name from the festival of the summer’s beginning, from a tradition that understood seasons not as endings but turnings, and that honoured fire as a source of renewal rather than only of consumption. At the heart of the modern Bealtaine, lies the celebration of creativity, and this festival provides essential spaces and conditions for creativity to flourish.

“Art is the process of paring back to the core meaning, expressing truth and cutting through any artifice that might obscure our vision. Art requires us to pause, reflect and question our perspectives. It is the medium through which our imagination is given free rein, with infinite possibilities. And there are many in today’s world that would try to stifle thoses possibilities. Imagination is a powerful shaping force for positive change, which must be nurtured and allowed to thrive. Your festival does exactly that.”

President Connolly hosted reception for Bealtaine Festival at Aras an Uachtaráin on April 30th, 2026. Copyright Maizy Kharrazian/www.hotpress.com

Inspired by the theme, 'Lust for Life, the 2026 Bealtaine Festival aims to redefine ageing as a period of creative potential. The festival will culminate in a finale weekend from May 28 to the 30 at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin. The festival is funded by the Arts Council and the HSE, with support from communities across the country.

"I think one of the stereotypes about aging is that it's a time of decline and withdrawal, the festival is about showing that there is a community to connect with and a way to continue to e creative," said Dr Tara Byrne, the arts program manager at Age & Opportunity.

"The more we bring the positive aspect of aging together and the more we bring the generations together to educate people, the better off we are," said Mike Hanrahan, musician and Bealtaine festival ambassador.