Westport Arts Festival 2015 a huge success

Anton McNulty and Ciara Moynihan

The organisers of the 40th Westport Arts Festival were overwhelmed by the success of the festival with huge crowds attending the various events throughout the town.
The Arts Festival, which is one of the oldest in Ireland, ran for five days last week opening on Wednesday, September 30 until Sunday, October 4. The 2015 edition of the festival was a celebration of all that is good about local, national and international arts with the Arts Festival Community Parade through Westport described as one of the highlights of the festivities.
The parade included the world famous street theatre company, Macnas and was compared by Festival Chairperson, Michael McLaughlin to a mini St Patrick’s Day Parade due to the number of people who lined the streets.
Mr McLaughlin said he was overwhelmed by the success of the festival and by the large numbers of people who turned by to the events.
“It was a huge success for us all and the feedback I have received was that all the events were well attended with a lot of them overflowing. If there was any complaints it was because some of the venues were not big enough. The content of the festival was very good and that is why the people came out. Apart from one or two International acts, they were all local talent and they were excellent,” he said.
This was Michael’s first year as Chairperson and he was full of praise for the committee who are all volunteers and for the community in getting behind the festival. He said the festival was about bringing art to the community and staging events which people would not normally see.
However he said they needed more volunteers to get involved in organising the festival for it to continue to be a success.
“We couldn’t do this again next year without there being some big changes, as what was given to it in terms of our time was a huge sacrifice to our work, families and lives. We need more volunteers and to build a team for next year, we did not have enough people on board this year. This is an enormous undertaking, which was a great success for Westport, but we need more people behind us, to roll up their sleeves and share the work load. It just cannot work unless this happens. We need to sit down with other agencies and stakeholders in Westport if the Arts Festival is to survive and continue.”

Festival launch
The festival was officially launched in the bright and airy sun-filled lobby of Westport Town Hall Theatre on Wednesday evening last, September 30. The event was well attended by locals and festival participants, while special guest speakers included the Mexican Ambassador to Ireland, Carlos Garcia DeAlba, and curator, writer and art historian Catherine Marshall, Founding Head of Collections at IMMA.
Mr McLaughlin was the first to address the crowd and he thanked the Westport Town Hall Theatre staff and volunteers, Mayo County Council architect Simon Wall, the festival’s sponsors and all the festival volunteers. He also welcomed the guest speakers and council officials in attendance, and spoke with pride about the festival and its importance to the town.
Catherine Marshall was fulsome in her praise of the festival, highlighting in particular its inclusiveness and the support it receives from the local community. Ms Marshall singled out for particular praise the exhibition of beautiful quilts by the Octagon Quilters, on show at the town hall.

Mexican twist
With 2015 marking not only the 40th Westport Arts Festival but the 40th anniversary of the establishment of formal relations between Mexico and Ireland, the organisers decided to introduce a Mexican twist to this year’s festival. Work by Mexican artist Katrina Rupit is on show in the town hall, and the artist is in town to create one of her signature colourful ‘graffiti’ murals on the gable end of the iconic Sheeben thatched pub and restaurant in Rosbeg, Westport. (Original plans to create a mural at the bridge close to Westport Skate Park on the West Road were scuppered by the effectiveness of Mayo County Council’s anti-graffiti paint, much to the amusement of the crowd at the opening).
During his speech the Ambassador De Alba spoke about women in the arts and science in Mexico, and the role they have played in overcoming and breaking down traditional gender barriers and expectations that Mexican society had laid down. He praised Rupit’s work as continuing in this tradition, drawing our attention to social issues, ‘with a wink’.
The ambassador, who was visiting Mayo for the seventh time, concluded by presenting Michael McLaughlin with a copy of the book ‘The Eagle and The Cross’, by RJ Piniero, a book on the mid-19th-century war between America and Mexico, highlighting the role of Irish soldiers in the St Patrick’s Battalion, who switched sides and fought for Mexico.
The Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Michael Holmes also addressed those gathered, as did the Cathaoirleach of the West Mayo Municipal District Christy Hyland. Both praised the organisers of the festival and thanked all those who had helped bring it to fruition this year. Also in attendance were councillors Rose Conway Walsh and Brendan Mulroy.
At the end of the evening’s proceedings, Catherine Marshall and Ambassador De Alba were each presented with signed, framed Westport Arts Festival posters, featuring artwork by local artist Pamela Grey.