Bumble Bee Childrens Festival

WELCOME TO SAMHLAIOCHT 2008

Cuireann sé ana-áthas orm, ar son Samhlaíocht Chiarraí, fáilte a chur roimh gach éinne go dtí Féile na Cásca, 2008.
Eagraíocht ar leith is ea Samhlaíocht agus is mór an onóir dhom baint a bheith agam leis, mar tá sé fréamhaithe go doimhin sa phobal tríd an gContae.

On behalf of the Directors and staff of Samhlaíocht Chiarraí, I would like to welcome you to the seventeenth annual Easter Festival. It is the aim of the festival to give all sectors of society throughout Kerry an opportunity to celebrate and engage in a wide range of artistic activities.
Concurrent with the Easter Festival we have the Bumble Bee Festival for our younger citizens 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.

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

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Louis Mulcahy,
Cathaoirleach, Samhlaíocht Chiarraí.

A WORD FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Hello and welcome to the 17th annual Samhlaíocht Easter Arts & Children’s Bumble Bee Festivals. The theme of this year’s Festival is PLANET EARTH to coincide with 2008 being the International year of Planet Earth. Samhlaiocht, which means ‘imagination’ as Gaeilge, aims to capture people’s imagination with an exciting artistic offering all the while conscious of the need to make the Earth a safer, healthier, wealthier and a much more fun place for everyone.

The Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Festival Parade promises to be a highlight of this year’s Festival, with over twenty groups from around the county and with a myriad of professional street entertainers taking part. This year’s parade will be a night time affair and will finish with a fireworks extravaganza and will take place on Easter Sunday night. So come on out and enjoy the show!

With a rich variety of events from Dance 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 for music lovers and dance lovers lined up this year with a Flamenco Dance evening in Fels Point on Easter Saturday, while for literature lovers there’s poetry nights in English and as Gaeilge, the French Market is back again this year and we’ve also an Irish Food & Craft Fair, which takes place in the KDYS in Tralee on Easter Saturday and Sunday and there’s a Craft Market in Killarney! 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, FAS, Fáilte Ireland and Kerry County Council for their generous grant aid. We hope you have a brilliant festival and enjoy yourselves thoroughly.

Cheers,
Jason

KERRY GROUP

Kerry Group has been the major corporate sponsor of Samhlaíocht since its foundation in 1992, giving support to assist with the growth and development of the arts throughout county Kerry, with particular emphasis on local community arts initiatives.

We continue to provide financial support to five community groups which take part in the Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Parade and hope that the energetic work of Samhlaíocht continues to encourage participation in the wonderful and rich world of the Arts in Kerry.

The 2008 Samhlaíocht Easter Arts Festival and Children’s Bumble Bee Festival promises to be a lively affair. We are delighted to offer continuing support to Samhlaíocht, wishing it a happy 17th 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