On Friday 20th September Culture Night was celebrated far and wide with the theme of ‘One Night For All’. In Nenagh this was a wonderful success with free events in Nenagh Arts Centre, Nenagh Tourist Office, ‘The Store’ and Quentin’s Way.
In Nenagh Arts Centre there was a multi-cultural event with elements including a workshop with Emma where participants created decorated floral tote bags through flower pounding; musical performances from South Africa and Ukraine and food tasting of the cuisine of Ireland, Ukraine, Brazil and South Africa. On the night those attending were encouraged to put a pin in a map to show where they came from – this revealed a real ‘Where in the World’ result with pins in Seattle, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Nigeria, Ireland, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Ukraine, South Africa, Kenya and Sri Lanka. The event was made possible through collaboration between North Tipperary Development Company (NTDC) and Nenagh Arts Centre with assistance from Nenagh Tourist Office.
Next door, in the Tourist Office, there was a debut Nenagh performance by Airneán, a male vocal ensemble group, whose acoustic performance of re-imagined folk songs wowed the audience with numbers such as ‘Raglan Road’, ‘Dirty Old Town’, ‘The Star of the County Down’, ‘Dúlamán’ and ‘Farewell to Carlingford’. There was humour too with ‘Why I Am Not at Work Today’. The Group’s debut album ‘Mind The Step’ is available on all streaming platforms.
In ‘The Store’ the Nenagh Players had an open-mic night with performances by members and guests. There was music and entertainment in abundance, all compered by MC, Kevin Whelan. Again, there was a multi-cultural approach with a number of Ukrainians performing.
In Quentin’s Way the North Tipperary Artist Collective had a wonderful Art Exhibition which was launched on Thursday 19th September by actor Patrick Bergin. A multitude of artists had their work on display up to Sunday. The work showed a variety of different mediums and was a testament to the talent that there is in the area.
Culture Night celebrates all that makes up the richness and diversity of Culture in Ireland today, connecting people to cultural activities locally and nationally and aims to open up pathways to ongoing engagement. Culture Night in Nenagh was funded by The Arts Council and brought to you by Tipperary County Council in partnership with the various organisations who facilitated the events.
