Bumble Bee Childrens Festival

WELCOME TO SAMHLAIOCHT 2009

Cuireann sé an-áthas ar Bhord agus ar fhoireann Samhlaíocht Chiarraí, fáilte a chur roimh gach éinne go dtí Féile na Cásca, 2009.

Eagraíocht áitiúil ealaíona is ea Samhlaíocht Chiarraí agus tá sé fréamhaithe go doimhin sa phobal tríd na himeachtaí cosúil leis an bhféile seo, Féile Scannaíochta Chiarraí, Taispeáinteais Ealaíona agus tograí ins na scoileanna.

On behalf of the Directors and staff of Samhlaíocht Chiarraí, I would like to welcome you to the eighteenth annual Easter Festival. It is the aim of the festival to give all communities throughout Kerry an opportunity to engage in a wide range of artistic activities and to celebrate the role of the Arts in bringing pleasure and understanding to our lives.

Concurrent with the Easter Festival we have the Bumble Bee Festival for our younger participants with its own exciting artistic programme. Crowning the festive weekend will be a dramatic fireworks display after the parade on Easter Sunday. We hope everyone including children, parents and grandparents will join us for this magical experience.

The Board of Samhlaíocht wish to thank our major corporate sponsor, Kerry Group and the Arts Council, FÁS and Kerry County Council for their generous financial assistance and moral support, as well as all our other wonderful local benefactors whose encouragement enables us continue with our year round range of endeavours. We especially appreciate the continuing close cooperation of Siamsa Tire.

We congratulate Jason O'Mahony, Artistic Director, and all the staff of Samhlaíocht Chiarraí on a marvellous Festival programme and for their continuing efforts throughout the year.

Tá súil agam go mbainfidh gach éinne an-taitneamh as na himeachtaí ar fad i rith deireadh seachtaine na Cásca.

John Kennedy,
Cathoirleach, Samhlaíocht Chiarraí.

A WORD FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Hello and welcome to the 18th annual Samhlaíocht Easter Arts & Children’s Bumble Bee Festivals. The theme of this year’s Festival is IMAGINATION, a theme that’s especially close to our hearts as Samhlaiocht means ‘imagination’ as Gaeilge! We hope the Festival captures people’s imaginations and that they come out onto the streets and enjoy some of the exciting artistic events on offer over the Easter weekend.

The Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Festival Parade promises to be the highlight of this year’s Festival, with over twenty groups from around the county and with a myriad of professional street entertainers taking part it’ll be out of sight! We’ll have the 6 giants of Mortal Orchestra leading the parade through the streets of Tralee and the parade will finish with a fireworks extravaganza at about 9:00 pm on Easter Sunday night. So come on out and enjoy the show!

With a rich variety of events from Street Theatre to Visual Arts and from Music to Film the Samhlaíocht Easter Arts & Children’s Bumble Bee Festivals offer something for everyone.

We’ve a veritable feast of street entertainment lined up this year with street acts and walkabout acts taking place all weekend long. The Fabulous Fanzini brothers have a brand new cannonball act that will take place in Siamsa Tíre on Easter Saturday, April 11th, and it promises to be their liveliest performance ever!

All your old favourite walks, talks, workshops and events are back but complemented with new and exciting events and activities!

I would like to thank Frank Hayes and all at Kerry Group, our main Corporate Sponsor, for their kind support and also The Arts Council, Kerry County Council and FAS for their generous grant aid. I’d also like to thank the more than 50 small business through out Tralee and beyond who take part in our patron scheme. Without them none of this would be possible!

We hope you have a brilliant festival and enjoy yourselves thoroughly.

Cheers,
Jason

KERRY GROUP

As the major corporate sponsor of Samhlaíocht since its inception in 1992, we are proud that Kerry Group’s financial support has assisted with the growth and advancement of the Arts throughout Kerry, in particular through the development of local community arts initiatives.

The ‘Kerry Group Five Communities’ project is one such initiative which offers funding to five community groups to take part in the Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Parade. We hope that this initiative along with our overall contribution to the festival continues to support Samhlaíocht’s energetic work throughout the County, encouraging participation in the wonderful and rich world of the Arts in Kerry.

The 2009 ‘Imagination’ themed Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Festival and Children’s Bumble Bee Festival promises to bring a colourful and lively affair to the streets of Tralee. We are delighted to offer continuing support to Samhlaíocht, wishing it a happy 18th Birthday, and hope you enjoy some of the many events and activities on offer this year.

Yours Sincerely,
Frank Hayes

Frank Hayes, Director of Corporate Affairs, Kerry Group