Imelda May to headline West Cork arts festival next month 

Irish singer and actor Imelda May will headline this year’s Bere Island Arts Festival which boasts a programme that also features puppetry, poetry, art installations, foraging, and printmaking.

Running from Thursday to Sunday September 17 to 20, the highlights of the festival include Imelda May’s Raised on Songs & Stories show on Saturday evening, which will feature acoustic versions of her songs intertwined with poetry and storytelling in an intimate setting.

This year’s festival will also host the Cork debut of The Devil’s in the Dance Hall on Thursday night, a performance about Ireland’s rural dance halls in the 1930s.

Other events include a long-table supper to celebrate Culture Night, hosted by Cape Clear historian and storyteller Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil.

Pauline Hurley of Bere Island Arts Festival said: “Beyond the incredible line-up, the soul of our festival has always been its extraordinary sense of togetherness.

“This is a celebration powered by our local volunteers, bringing world-class artists and audiences together in a landscape like no other.”