Festival in a Van kicks off in Louth next month

Festival in a Van, a mobile live arts event that began initially as an idea to keep music, poetry and theatre alive during Covid, and has since grown to touring the country to provide a vital cultural link for all those whose access to the arts may be limited, kicks off in Louth on Monday 14 August with events in Dundalk, Ardee and Drogheda.

The festival takes a new collaboration with Poetry Ireland on the road this August, gathering together seven of Ireland’s most lauded poets and ten of the country’s best traditional Irish musicians  for a tour to seven counties over 16 days – bringing joy to people in care and nursing homes, as well as community groups.

Participating poets include the award-winning Martin Dyar, whose anthology Vital Signs: Poems of Illness and Healing (2022) is the inspiration for this tour. Martin will also curate the poetry line-up for this national touring event made possible by The Arts Council, and a partnership with Poetry Ireland.

The three events in Louth on 14 August include a private gig at Moorehall Lodge, care home in Drogheda; and two public events at Ardee Community Centre at 2.15pm; and at Market Square, Dundalk at 5.15pm.

This tour programme starts in Louth with lyric poet Tom French. Tom's work for Festival in a Van will be performed in Dundalk where he will be joined with Irish folk musician Seán Mathews, from Drogheda.

The gigs will be followed up by workshops and Poetry SOS clinics, run by Poetry Ireland for Festival in a Van, where poets prescribe poems to help and support care and health workers too. These will run throughout September and into October of this year.

Festival in a Van’s Director, Elizabeth Mohen says: “We’ve all felt the energy that is built by a crowd when a chorus is sung, or when a line of poetry becomes spine-tinglingly resonant.

"The Vital Signs tour gives people the chance to experience together moments that have previously taken place alone in a quiet room between the reader and the anthology; moments of stark recognition, of shared grief and hope.

"Bringing the Vital Signs tour to care and nursing homes, and to community groups, ensures that we are continuing our mission of making sure everyone in Ireland can experience the magic of music, poetry, and live performance.”

Poetry Ireland’s Director, Liz Kelly, says, “Vital Signs has become a valuable source of inspiration both in artistic terms and with respect to the human challenge of accepting and discussing illness, healing, and healthcare in more open, reflective, and ultimately healthier terms.

"It is good to see Vital Signs ‘on tour’, in a series of expertly curated public events, at the height of summer, fulfilling our central aim, to connect people with poetry.”

Festival in a Van is supported by Creative Ireland, the Arts Council of Ireland and Ireland’s Local Authority Network.