From the world-famous Wexford Festival Opera to food and flower fests, to renowned authors like John Banville and Colm Tóibín, Wexford's creative roots run deep. There’s something for everyone in the Model County.
These are the upcoming events and initiatives you have to check out as Ireland embraces its creative and artistic prowess as part of the government led Creative Ireland initiative.
Living Art - Art in Schools
The Creative Ireland Program 2017 will allow for an extension of the highly successful Living Arts in Primary Schools program run by Wexford County Council in partnership with Wexford Arts Center. A team of artists provides children with understanding and experience of contemporary art-making in 4 primary schools per year, over 15 weeks.
Wexford Festival Opera 2017
Photo: Failte Ireland
Wexford Festival Opera is one of the leading Opera Festivals in the world and each year attracts audiences from home and abroad who travel to Wexford to experience this unique celebration of Opera. Now in its 66th year, this year the festival runs from October 15 - November 1 and will include productions of Medea, Margherita, and more.
Film Wexford
Home to major film productions such as ‘Saving Private Ryan’ , ‘The Sea’ and the more recent ‘Brooklyn’ , Wexford county has a stunning and varied landscape with a rich maritime and Norman heritage , and is open for business for film companies nationally and internationally. The result is an extensive photo data base incorporating more than 4,000 images divided into over twenty categories such as Beaches, Castles, Rivers, Period Houses, villages etc. This new website will be officially launched in Autumn 2017 and will link to national film websites as well as Wexford county council and tourism websites. The plan is to further develop this website further over the coming years to advertise and incorporate opportunities, film funding and film crew database.
Wexford Fringe Festival
Photo: Paula Malone Carty
Running in tandem with the Opera Festival is the Wexford Fringe Festival, an open-access arts festival offering an eclectic mix of over 300 events over 17 days including cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, film, theater, puppetry, music, and visual art. October 19 - November 5.
New Ross - Graves & Co.
Graves & Co. were one of the main shipping companies that facilitated emigration from the ports of New Ross and Wexford to Savannah, Georgia in the 1840s-1860s. This project will involve cataloging and preparation for digitization of an important collection of original documents, mainly comprised of correspondence (approx. 2,500 letters) covering the period c. 1855-75, many of which refer to families emigrating from Wexford. This project is part of the Wexford/Savannah Axis Research Project – a major new research and heritage initiative that was established in 2013 to chronicle the historic links between Savannah and County Wexford.
The Norman Way
The Norman Way/Norman Wexford has been created to place Wexford as the heart of Norman Ireland. The Norman Way raises awareness and education on the Norman way of life and allows the visitor to learn about the rich legacy through the outstanding medieval Norman Castles and Churches that are located throughout County Wexford. Funding will assist in creating awareness of Wexford’s unique and important Norman history through various events including a launch with promotion booklets, lecture and discussion evenings with local people and businesses, a Norman Heritage School pack a heritage cycling tour and the development of Website and interpretation.
And Creatures Dream - Wexford Arts Exhibition
Robert Armstrong's "A Cloud for Sigiriya"
And Creatures Dream...A New Language was a group exhibition presented by The Arts Department of Wexford County Council in partnership with Wexford Arts Center which revealed how the visual arts are represented in County Wexford through painting. It ran at Wexford County Council, Carricklawn and Wexford Arts Center from July 1 through August 25, 2017.
Art in the Open 2017
Take a deep breath of plein air at this outdoor painting festival based in Wexford town. Open to all artists, this annual festival features paint-outs, workshops, life drawing, lectures, and social events. Over 200 artists from around the world congregate to take part in and teach the joys of plein air painting. Look out for details on 2018.
Enniscorthy Rockin' Food Festival 2017
Photo: Jennifer Coady
The Enniscorthy Rockin' Food Festival 2017 promises a fun weekend with outdoor music events, a rock & roll gig trail and food, craft and beer markets, and plenty of activities, all in the lovely town of Enniscorthy. It will be back again in 2018 for Ireland’s August Bank Holiday weekend.
Check out Waterford’s full Culture and Creativity plans here.
Are there more cultural events in County Wexford you think people should know about? Let us know in the comment section.
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