General Fiasco, the three piece band hailing from mid-Ulster are on a roll at the minute. Following the successful release of their debut album “Buildings” the boys are currently in the middle of a European Tour, but are breaking away to headline the 2nd Lark in the Park Festival in Moira on Saturday night. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet you’d better hurry! They are selling fast at www.ticketmaster.co.uk and are only £20. The full festival line up can be found at www.larkinthepark-ni.com.
And just to give you a wee taster of what’s in store, here’s the brand new video for General Fiasco’s second single to be released from the Album Buildings on 17th May, called, “I’m Not Made of Eyes” featuring actors Amelia Fox and Shaun Evans. See you in Moira!
St George’s Market is offering modern shoppers the chance to step back in time and learn some long forgotten skills.
Over the next two months, the market will be hosting a series of demonstrations and workshops on traditional skills which were part of everyday life for our forebearers but have fallen by the wayside in today’s consumerist society.
Organized by the newly formed ‘Friends Of St George’s Market’, as part of their Heritage Lottery Fund supported ‘Market Memories’ project, the programme of activities seeks to bring these old skills back into the modern spotlight.
The programme begins on Saturday (24 April), with demonstrations of traditional bread and jam making, as well as the art of butter churning. With the increasing trend towards people growing their own food and ‘urban gardening’, there also will be a lesson in how to plant runner beans.
Future demonstrations include linen weaving (22 May), blacksmithing and forging (29 May, in Murdoch’s Yard in Verner Street, beside the Market), basket-weaving (5 June), urban bee-keeping (12 June) and urban gardening (19 June).
The ‘Market Memories’ project will culminate in a special heritage weekend, from Friday 25 – Sunday 27 June, which will feature further demonstrations and workshops, as well as historical re-enactments, historical tours and more.
When you think of medieval times it evokes images of chivalrous knights battling on muddy fields, fair maidens dancing around Maypoles and festivals of celebration much like the Medieval May Day event that takes place in Holywood on 3 May, from 10am – 4pm.
Medieval May Day in Holywood, organised by North Down Borough Council in partnership with Holywood and District Community Council, has always been a well loved day out with free entertainment for the whole family and this year proves no different with family friendly activities taking place throughout the day including dancing around Ireland’s only surviving Maypole.
Commenting on the event, Wendy Smith, North Down Borough Council said, ‘We have so many activities crammed into Holywood’s town center for this years Medieval May Day from specialty stalls to the medieval arena and at the centre of it all we have our fantastic Maypole; it really does promise to be a fantastic day out for the whole family.’
Come along and enjoy the festival atmosphere from 10am in Holywood town center where visitors will be treated to lots of top-class entertainment including jesters, acrobats and fighting knights from 12noon – 4pm in the medieval arena. There will also be two sessions of maypole dancing performed at 10.15am and 11.45am as well as the traditional crowning of the May Queen at 12noon.
The day also includes a specialty market and charity stalls all taking place from 10am and 4pm.
For further information please contact Bangor Tourist Information Centre, Quay Street, Bangor. Tel: 028 9127 0069 or www.northdowntourism.com
With the Magherafelt Launch of Summer Festivals just around the corner, find out what’s happening in the district with something to capture everyone’s imagination….
Lots going on in Magherafelt District this Summer!
Strabane’s Alley Theatre is set to host the Northern Ireland launch of the award winning Anne Frank (+You} exhibition this May, a stunning exhibition which examines the life of Anne Frank and the legacy of her unique diary which still has a message to share with everyone in Northern Ireland today.
Assisting the launch will be Mrs Inge Radford, one of Ireland’s last surviving Jewish Holocaust survivors, who lost her widowed mother and 5 brothers to the Nazi concentration camps in 1942.
Famous around the world, this poignant exhibition, which will be at the Alley from May 10th until May 29th, is anticipated to draw in visitors and groups from across the island of Ireland, keen to understand more about the legacy left by Anne Frank and showing the relevance in today’s society of views she expressed in her celebrated diary. At the heart of the exhibition, entitled Anne Frank (+ You} is a life-size replica of her bedroom in the secret annexe above her father’s business premises in Amsterdam. This small space is where the Frank family, and four other Jews, spent more than two years in hiding before being betrayed to the Nazis in the summer of 1944.
Visitors will experience the room where Anne confided in her diary about her hopes, ambitions and perceptions about conflict and the human condition. To reach the “secret annexe” room in the exhibition, visitors must first pass through a multi-media display which explores the themes that dominated her life and a tunnel on the Holocaust and genocides around the world. Themes of Identity, Prejudice and Racism, Conflict and Peace, Moral Responsibility, and Freedom and Democracy are all addressed on giant exhibition panels which carry significant excerpts from Anne’s diary, along with examples of present day issues in picture and print, whilst televisual displays of teenagers of today discussing the issues in a 21st century context can also be viewed.
The exhibition was developed by the Anne Frank Trust UK, who worked alongside its sister organisation the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and an award winning creative team, whose brief was to create a unique and challenging experience for people of all ages which will interest and inform them on the story of Anne Frank. Strabane District Council and the Community Relations Council are funding this project in association with the Cultural, Heritage and Identity programme, which is supported by the Peace III programme and managed for the Special EU programmes Body by the North West Peace III Cluster.
“The story of Anne Frank not only reminds us about what has happened in the past, but also what is happening in society today. This exhibition will be an ideal way to inform our community about the need to stand together and support those in society who need our help and support, whilst protecting their human rights. Anne’s short life shows us what can happen when hatred and extremism goes unchallenged, we therefore intend to challenge and stimulate discussion within our community about what are the best ways forward in offering everyone an equal place in society today” stated Kieran McGuire, Chairman of Strabane District Council.
“The Trust promotes positive attitudes in young people towards differences particularly in age, gender, ethnicity, religion and disability, and encourages people to reject all forms of bigotry. The Trust’s Executive Director Gillian Walnes explained: “The intention of Anne Frank [+ You} is that visitors, particularly youngsters aged 11 to 17, will be able to relate the horrors that befell victims of the Holocaust to the world around them, and recognise the need to challenge injustice and to contribute to a society built on mutual respect and moral courage to prevent such things happening again. This is an exhibition unlike any other that is touring Northern Ireland and will be a major talking point.” The exhibition runs from May 10th until May 29th, for further information on the forthcoming exhibition visit www.alley-theatre.com or contact the Alley Box Office on 028 7138 4444.
A new way to ‘chill out’ on a Sunday afternoon begins this coming weekend, with a unique crèche for adults.
Belfast City Council’s new ‘Electronic Crèche’ is opening in the newly refurbished Crescent Arts Centre from 1pm – 4pm every Sunday, from 25 April. (more…)
