PURE Limerick, the city’s first multi-artform community arts festival is not to be missed.
Across 10 venues, the festival programme is packed with free workshops, performances and exhibitions and its organisers believe there is something for everyone.
Collaboration, community and grassroots creativity are at the heart of PURE Limerick which is funded by the Arts Council’s Festival Investment Scheme. Limerick City Partnership with the Hunt Museum are working with an extensive range of local arts organisations, communities and local artists, to ensure PURE Limerick is created by and for the people of Limerick. The idea for this festival emerged last February when Michael Gleeson, Social Enterprise Officer with Limerick City Partnership, brought arts focused social enterprises together, to discuss possible ways to collaborate. He explained:
“Very quickly we landed on the idea of working together to deliver Limerick’s first community arts festival. Recognising the need for this and in no time at all, more local arts organisations and community groups came on board. At Limerick City Partnership our motto is Together for Inclusion. The PURE Limerick festival is an embodiment of this, with each festival partner determined to use the arts to strengthen and empower communities and individuals."
Festival Chair, Maria Cagney, Hunt Museum outlined the essential ingredients that will make PURE Limerick Community Arts Festival a wonderful success:
"Local communities, in all their diversity, must be producers of festival events, not just passive consumers of them. People really need to see themselves reflected in the festival programme in order for them to come out and to get involved. PURE Limerick is doing well on both fronts. We are delighted to have Dóchas Midwest Autism’s Athas Print Studio offering drop-in workshops. At the Hunt Museum we have an exhibition called Woven Together in which members from newly arrived communities will display textile artworks alongside those from our wider community network, including Headway. We are also hosting workshops by local Ukrainian artists and Muslim Sisters of Eire (Limerick). This is just a snapshot of the diversity represented in the festival programme."
Festival-goers can also expect plenty of spectacle, including aerial dance by Future Creators and a boxing/painting performance, called Paint Punch, by local youth, at Limerick’s Milk Market. Youth from King’s Island Community, with Music Generation Limerick, are staging an exciting Showcase of their musical talent. Theatre and short films by local community based drama groups will be showcased at Belltable. Dance Limerick with the High Kicks are running an evening of dance and memories of local dance halls. The festival programme also includes plenty of artist-led workshops in clay, acting, singing and much more. PURE Limerick will blow local arts venue doors wide open but festival goers can also expect to see programming in non arts venues, such as Citizen Innovation Lab (part of UL City Campus), located in the old Dunnes Stores building on Sarsfield Street. While most events are free, booking is recommended for specific events. The festival will run morning until evening on February 20 and 21. To explore the full festival programme, visit www.purelimerickfestival.ie and follow @pure.limerick on the main social media channels.
