Clonmel Junction Arts Festival Set to Feature Blindboy

With Blindboy is set to perform on Thursday night with his show, 'The Blindboy Podcast'. The show is set to mix humor with fiction, as well as some interviews from special guests.

Other performances include singer/songwriter Ruairí de Leastar, indie stars Pale Rivers and DJ/activist Tonie Walsh due to take place later this week, visitors are in for a real treat as the festival showcases the best of Clonmel.

The festival, which kicked off on Monday, has already seen a high degree of success. Hot Press caught up with Conleth Teevan, event organiser to talk all things theatre, art and culture.

Teevan told Hot Press about the theme for this year and how it was inspired by the landscape of Tipperary - notably the River Suir. “Clonmel’s main river flows right through the town. There is a wealth of creativity that springs from the river and its always a tricia point of any town or city. This year’s programme of events puts a sharp focus on home-grown talent and brings a new strand called ‘HOME GROWN HEROES”.

"We have had two sold out shows so far where Pat Kinevane brought down the house with Fishamble’s Olivier-award winning show Silent and then we hit the ground running again on Tuesday with a huge street party where over 1000 people attended for pizza, sunshine, and street performance from the incredible Grant Goldie. Day Two also saw our immersive audio promenade in Raheen House getting underway."

The festival has a reputation for opening its doors to a range of artists who specialise outside theatre and music, allowing performers in comedy, dance and circus to have their moment to shine in the spotlight.

“As Clonmel currently doesn’t have wealth of theatre spaces, you can find shows in a bakery; a handball alley; an ammunition storehouse; a 13th century church; a magic bookshop and a piano bar. Many of the feature events will be at the Big Top circus tent at the Old Military Barracks which includes award-winnng circus performers Tumble Circus who bring us their new show Unsuitable ”.

Other events taking place include a bakery show, comedy stand-up and performances in dance.

Nollaig Healy, Festival Director, released a statement saying “When I moved to Clonmel first, I was astonished at the number of amazingly talented artists who were either from the town or had a strong connection with Clonmel and I have been privileged to work with so many of them in various capacities over the years. I really want the Festival to celebrate all this amazing creativity while showcasing some of our emerging talent who have grown up with the Festival over the past 18 years”

Conleth echoed the sentiment talking about the importance of keeping a town’s culture and identity alive through the arts.

“It is incredibly important to celebrate culture and arts in every town, but in an arts festival set up it gives opportunity for the town to shine and show off its amazing spaces, while platforming local and guest talent from around the country to perform to new audiences. It also offers artists the opportunity to work alongside each other and together within a festival network, so they can get the best out of their work with festival support but most of all local support. It’s a wonderful experience that make all the hard work worthwhile."

"We are jam packed for the rest of the week, with music, theatre, art and the incredible Tumble Circus! So come to Clonmel this July and make a date with the arts. You won’t regret it- it’s a Suir Thing!" - Nollaig Healy, Festival Director

This year’s Clonmel Junction Arts Festival has all of the above and much much more, so get booking and take part in Tipp’s Pride of July multi-disciplinary arts festival which runs from Monday 2 until Sunday 8 July.

For more information, visit: http://www.junctionfestival.com/