PREVIEW Westport Arts Festival 2014

Westport’s kaleidoscopic arts festival kicks off


Preview
Ciara Moynihan

The 39th Westport Arts Festival starts tomorrow (Wednesday), and this year’s line-up is  another feast for the senses. The glossy programmes are out, and they’re being pored over at bar counters and kitchen tables around the county. It’s an annual ritual almost as eagerly anticipated as the festival itself.
Running over five days, from October 1 to 5, the 2014 offering is another tempting mixum-gatherum of music, literature, dance, visual arts, theatre, film, comedy and children’s and family events.
Galway playwright Gerry Conneely’s comedy ‘Year of the Moving Statues’, which is being staged at 7pm on Thursday night in Scoil PhΡdraig, sounds interesting. Centring on one of the more bizarre episodes in recent Irish history – the moving statues of the mid ’80s – the play takes a satirical look at the human condition. The era, which saw Ireland awkwardly embrace modernity while still holding tradition and superstition to its breast, should prove fertile ground for an exploration of the peculiarly Irish attitude to authority, responsibility, identity and religion.
A firm favourite with discerning RTÉ DJ, John Creedon, The Niall McCabe Band will take to the stage of Matt Molloy’s later that night, at 9.30pm. The band dubs its style ‘transatlantic soul’ – which translates as an intelligent blend of Irish folk and State-side soul, jazz, blues and rock. Their debut album, ‘Part of the Light’ has garnered high praise and plenty of airplay, much to the credit of the band’s Clare Island-born frontman and songwriter.
Another offering for music lovers comes in the form of influential trad band Altan, who will play in The Wyatt Hotel on Friday night. Formed in County Donegal in 1987, the hugely successful group is famous for their authentic sound, rooted in the north of Ireland. Founding member, Gaoth Dobhair native Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh’s vocals and fiddle playing have captivated audiences around the world, always complemented by a stellar line-up of top-class trad musicians.
The Mighty Craic Up comedy night, which takes place on Sunday in the Mill Times Hotel, includes the loveably awkward Eleanor Tiernan, familiar to many from Irish Pictorial Weekly and The Savage Eye, and award-winning Irish comedian Chris Kent, who trades in self-deprecating observational humour. In a change to the advertised programme, Eric Lalor is no longer appearing. In his stead is Al Porter – a 20-year-old student with a penchant for outrageous material and more than a touch of the Widow Twankeys, possibly a consequence of his many years in panto.
Art buffs will be excited by internationally renowned sculptor John Gibbons’s exhibition, which opens at The Custom House Gallery tomorrow evening. Although now based in the UK, Gibbons grew up on High Street, Westport. The exhibition includes a series of drawings produced during recent residencies at the Heinrich Böll Cottage on Achill and The Ballinglen Foundation in Ballycastle, as well as recent sculptural works. The Custom House Studios is also hosting Blink, an open group exhibition for the festival, while the open exhibition that yearly adorns the walls of McGing’s Bar is always worth a look – and it’s a good excuse to sup on a local artisan brew.
Anyone with a nostalgic leaning will likely enjoy The Good Old Days of Dublin’s Theatre Royal, a narrated concert that includes songs and stories about the much-loved theatre and those who trod its boards – from American greats Nat King Cole and Danny Kaye to Irish icons Noel Purcell and Maureen Potter – as well as archival material. The show takes place in the Wyatt Hotel on Saturday night.
Mayo talent is also to the fore, with minimalist piano and electro-acoustic composer Conor Walsh bringing his beautiful, restful, often haunting compositions to the Clew Bay Hotel on Sunday evening. A great chance to catch this talented Swinford-based musician ahead of the release of his debut album.
Family fun, always a big part of the Westport Arts Festival, is supplied by Fregoli Theatre Company’s ‘The Voyage of BRiAN’ and Pignut Productions’ puppet show ‘How to Fix a Fairy’, which take place at Holy Trinity NS on Saturday, at 12.30pm and 2pm, respectively.  
For those who like to get stuck in, the 2014 programme also boasts a host of workshops, with opportunities to learn about DJ-ing, graffiti, photography, puppet making and more. Meanwhile, experienced and budding artists are invited to once again be part of the Plein Eire movement by joining in with members who will be painting outdoors around Westport on Saturday. Anyone who’s interested can bring along their art materials, meet up in the Clew Bay Hotel at 10.30am before heading out and meet there again at 5pm for drinks.
These are just a few of the many events in this year’s festival, which also includes talks, films and poetry readings; the launch of ‘Mary D’,  a crime novel by Westport-based author Eugene Owens; a disco with Manchester DJ Tom Funk at T Bourke’s; and plenty more concerts, theatre and visual arts. Time to get your hands on a programme and start planning your week.

For more information on the full programme and tickets for any of the events, visit www.westportartsfestival.com.
Festival brochures can also be downloaded from the site.