Wealth of events planned for Culture Night

From art to storytelling to dance, drama, exhibitions and heritage talks and everything in between, Culture Night, pencilled in for September 23 next has something for all ages with a whopping 43 events taking place in Athlone and Moate alone this year. The Westmeath Culture Night Programme 2011 was officially launched yesterday (Tuesday) by Mayor Mark Cooney at County Buildings in Mullingar during an evening of entertainment, designed to give the public a flavour of what's in store next month. For the second successive year the Lake County boasts the largest number of events on Culture Night outside of the capital, with over 80 planned for the one-day free spectacular, ten more than in 2010. There is a rich cultural offering in the county at present and a wealth of talent in every corner which is reflected in sheer range of events organised for Culture Night this year, according to Arts Officer, Catherine Kelly. "There has been a fantastic response from the arts community this year and there is definitely a hunger out there for things to happen and people want them in their local community and want to support them," she observed. Every single event is free in efforts by the County Arts Office to showcase the county's talent and rich arts and culture heritage for the young and the not so young. Westmeath Culture Night 2011 will build on the success of last year and will boast everything from drama, music - traditional and modern - performance art, exhibitions, street dancing, historic tours, face painting and much more. The one-day and night of free events has been designed to transform the county into a cultural hive of activity in the hope that everyone will open their eyes to what is on offer around them. The idea is that the one day event on Friday, September 23 will turn each town in the county into an accessible cultural venue and offer people of all ages and persuasions the chance to experience culture in various forms including dancing, family fun, music, poetry, lectures, art, drama and sport to name only a few - and all for free. Events will begin at 10am and finish in the early hours in locations across the county including Mullingar, Kinnegad, Streete, Castlepollard, Milltown, Delvin, Ballinagargy, Moate and Athlone and will include everything from storytelling for children to street performance and drama and even puppet-making and cookery classes! Some of those taking part are TR Dallas, the Mullingar Town band, Pat Welsh & the Michael Sexton Ceili Band, the Athlone Arts Group, Exquisite Co-lab, Viking Tours River Sailing with historical and environmental talk with Michael McDonnell. Synergy and Light Dance will be debuting their new collaboration entitled 'Caught!' and they will also be exploring the concept of performance in everyday life giving 'going shopping' a whole new meaning as well as an extra surprise dance piece. Members of the public will even have the chance to enjoy Viking Tours River Sailing with historical and environmental talk from Michael McDonnell in Athlone. And, in Moate, Synth Ethics - the electronic music duo comprised of Steven Guiney and James Graf will be demonstrating the workings of various mixing consoles and digital audios followed by very original House music mix and lighting extravaganza at Dr Cuppaige's. Dun Na Sí Heritage Centre and Moate Museum will also throw open their doors for free tours on the day. "We are so excited to again have the largest number of events outside of Dublin and so a special thanks must go to all those putting their time and energy into organizing or hosting events," Arts Officer Catherine Kelly said this week. "This is the second time that Culture Night has taken place in Westmeath and so we are very excited about the event. Last year saw thousands of people participating and attending events throughout Westmeath and so we felt that it was an excellent way for members of the community to enjoy the arts. We really hope that as many people as possible take advantage of the occasion to check out arts and culture activities which are of particular interest to them." The event is an initiative of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust and is part sponsored by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport and Westmeath County Council. See www.westmeathcoco.ie/culturenight for further information.