Get creative at Mayo's Cruinniú Festival
Music with science in Ballyhaunis, book making in Ballinrobe and Swinford, trad music workshops in Foxford, circus skills in Achill, astronomy in Claremorris, séan-nos dancing in Kilmovee.
These are just a few of the events for children taking place on Saturday, June 10, for the Cruinniú na nÓg Festival.
County Mayo has led the field in the creativity stakes in recent years whether it be though the writing of Sally Rooney or the Banshees of Inisherin.
So it makes sense to celebrate and harness that creativity in the most colourful way possible for Cruinniú na nÓg – Ireland’s day of free creativity – which takes place nationally on Saturday.
Cruinniú na nÓg encompasses a wide-ranging and exciting programme of events – with the celebration of creativity for young people at its heart. The line-up of events planned throughout Mayo includes performance, juggling, theatre, art, music, and much more.
Mayo will truly come alive for the day – a day of celebrating and encouraging children and young people to take part in cultural and creative events around the county. And young Mayo minds will have their pick of the creative fun this year!
“Ireland is the first, and only, country in the world to have a national day of free creativity for children and young people under eighteen,” said Mayo Creative Ireland coordinator Austin Vaughan.
“And in Mayo we have more variety than most counties in Ireland with a range of events covering all areas of creativity from nature workshops in Belmullet and Ballycroy to grandparent chats and growing berries in Westport to a climate change workshop in Ballinglen.
"One of the biggest events will be Show and Tell a daylong series of arts activities in the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar that includes puppet making, sketching and busking masterclasses."
The programme at Ballina Arts Centre ranges from dance workshops for local people and Ukrainians, free drama drop-in workshops and a sculpture project in conjunction with Down Syndrome Mayo. And in Belmullet there will be an opportunity for young people to reimagine their town – taking inspiration from Jack B. Yeats!
A new innovation this year is the provision of spinning plate sets and juggling classes (online and later live) to all our budding young jugglers. These will be available in Castlebar, Ballina. Westport and Claremorris Libraries on a first come, first served basis.
A unique event this year will be a Planetarium which will be located in Castlebar Library for the day. Children can drop in and explore the stars, space and the universe in an immersive and participatory experience. Check website for times.
Cruinniú na nÓg is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme’s Creative Youth plan to enable the creative potential of children and young people.
The festival is organised by the Creative Ireland team of Mayo County Council who have been working tirelessly for months to put this festival of family fun together. So make sure to part in the wide range of fun, free, creative activities for one day only.
As the great Maya Angelou said: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
At the launch of Cruinniú na nÓg 2023, Councillor Seamus Weir, cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said: “Cruinniú na nÓg is now a key date in Ireland’s cultural calendar.
"It provides wonderful opportunities for Ireland’s children and young people to try something new whether it be juggling skills, art, performing live music, exploring contemporary dance, or so much more. We have more than twenty events programmed around County Mayo. So I am encouraging everyone to get together, to be creative, express themselves and have fun.”
All events are free.
The full Mayo programme can be viewed at https://cruinniu.creativeireland.gov.ie/events/location/mayo/