East Cork festival has its roots in enchanting Glenbower Woods

The enchanting surroundings of Glenbower Woods in Killeagh is the inspiration behind the May Sunday Festival, which will take place in the East Cork town over the weekend of May 1-4.

The festival has its origins in the 1830s when the local landlord invited villagers onto his estate for music and dancing to show off new bridges and improvements to the land.

This year’s programme builds on these roots, with a plethora of free activities for children, adults, and families.

Events including storytelling through yoga, a scavenger hunt, den building, willow weaving, woodland foraging, and a dawn chorus singing walk are all part of the festival programme.

It will also feature creative movement workshops in nature from dancer Imna Pavon, set dancing at the edge of the wood led by The Céilí Experience, and live music spanning the genres with folk, trad, classical, and quality covers from a variety of artists. Stilt walkers, sound baths, and a fire show will add to the festival buzz, as will local artists and community creatives.

Actress and writer Ruth Hayes will stage a reading of her new play at Greywood Arts while a coffee morning at Ivy Lane will feature readings from poets Paudie Lee, Martina Madden, and Rosie Morris.

Portraits

Festival goers will be invited to contribute to Killeagh’s biggest tiny art exhibition by designing portraits from bottle-corks for a miniature display to decorate the village’s main street.

Festival organiser and artistic director of Greywood Arts, Jessica Bonenfant, said: “The May Sunday Festival welcomes the brighter half of the year with a celebration of creativity, community, and nature.

“Inspired by Killeagh’s historic village fete of music and dancing in what is now the community-owned Glenbower Wood, this modern celebration of Bealtaine has something for everyone.

“We’ll be keeping up the tradition of live music and dancing on the Sunday, and adding art, craft, theatre, poetry, ritual, and fire over the weekend, before concluding with a foraging walk and litter-pick in Glenbower to make sure we leave this treasured local resource better than we found it.”

The full programme for the May Sunday Festival is available at https://greywoodarts.org/may-sunday.