Seamus Heaney.

Age & Opportunity have a creative online programme for October

This year has been a tough one for everyone. We could all do with a boost of fun and creativity to lift our spirits as the winter draws in and Covid-19 continues to haunt the world.

To help us through this dreary October, Age & Opportunity, the national organisation working to improve the quality of life of people aged 50 to 100+, have just announced a wonderful creative programme for people to enjoy online in their homes – Bealtaine At Home: October.

Bealtaine At Home: October offers a selection of online events which span from celebrating titans of literature Seamus Heaney and Anne Enright, to discussing a thorny issue for many, the onset of middle age, to hearing from some Mad, Bad and Dangerous women, to welcoming in our new communities through Tar Isteach, to creating Love Letters through movement.

The events run from Tuesday October 20 until Saturday October 31.

The full list of events is available on the Bealtaine Festival website - http://bealtaine.ie/.

Some of the events:

Mad, Bad and Dangerous is a series of interviews between influential Irish women over 70. These women have been blazing trails for 50 years. They were moving mountains long before hashtags.

Parts 1 and 2 of the series were broadcast on RTÉ Culture and Parts 3 and 4 will be broadcast live on YouTube on October 20th and 22nd at 7pm as part of Bealtaine At Home.

The Bealtaine Discussion: No-one Expects the Middle Ages - chaired by Irish Times columnist and writer Hilary Fannin, with the help of artist John Byrne, marketing and advertising guru Pearse McCaughey, and Director of the Mercer’s Institute for Successful Ageing, St James’s Hospital/TCD, Professor Rose Anne Kenny, the 2020 Bealtaine discussion will take a look at this pivotal time between ‘youth’ and ‘older age’.

Starting Out and Keeping Going with Anne Enright and Ruth Gilligan. In this event in conjunction with the International Literature Festival Dublin, Anne Enright will look back on her 25 years as a writer with younger writer Ruth Gilligan whose most recent novel The Butchers was published in March this year.

There are limited numbers for some of the events so sign up in advance to secure a space.

For full details on the festival and to book events visit: http://bealtaine.ie/

Bealtaine Festival is a celebration of the arts and creativity as we age and this online edition honours the creative spirit of the festival.