Feast of music... and Quiet Lights

They’re getting busy down at St Catherine’s Cultural Centre in Kinsale with a few excellent shows coming up.

Rob Strong and his band are here tomorrow night, Friday, November 22, while on Saturday, November 30, they will be welcoming the Meliora and Olympia Quartets from the Cork School of Music for an evening of Beethoven and Mendelssohn.

If that were not enough, Altan will be here on Saturday, December 7 with the very best in Irish traditional music.

Tickets for all on Eventbrite. 

They are starting movie nights too - email movies@sccc.ie to join the mailing list for future screenings.

The Quiet Lights festival is back from today until Sunday, bringing a great array of performers and performances to venues across the city. Contemporary folk, traditional, and experimental music, with a special focus on Irish and international talent - you’ll find it all here this weekend.

Kurdish/Syrian phenomenon Mohammad Syfkhan opens the festival in Coughlan’s tonight, and the legendary concertina player Cormac Begley headlines St Luke’s on Sunday.

Cormac Begley performs at St Luke’s in the festival on Sunday

Both the big pantomimes are opening next week – Cinderella at the Opera House on November 27, and Little Red Riding Hood at Everyman on November 30. Tickets are already much in demand for those.

In between (as the hardworking cast takes a night off), there are other good shows. Abba Forever is at the Opera House on December 2 and 9, but that second show is fully sold out. Villagers are here on December 3, and the big Christmas Concert on December 16 and 17.

Booking for all Opera House shows on 021 427 0022 or www.corkoperahouse.ie.

Ronan Collins recollects a lifetime of showband stories and hits tomorrow at Everyman but that’s already sold out too, showing the permanent love we have for those legendary showband years.

And Lisa Hannigan the night after is fully booked too.

But there should still be a few tickets for the unmissable Sunday Songbook Ultimate Christmas Show on December 8 – you wouldn’t want to miss that, would you? Sing along to all the classic carols and festive numbers. Booking on 021 450 1673 or www.everymancork.com.

Don’t forget to grab tickets for the Lord Mayor’s Gala Christmas Concert on December 7 at the City Hall either. That is going to be one big event, with a host of stars like the wonderful Majella Cullagh, Stephanie Rainey, Lady Fi and Kevin Walsh joined by the Cork Concert Orchestra and an ensemble of local talent including Pakie O’Callaghan, Montfort Youth Choir, Choral Con Fusion, Kylana Choir, Citadel and the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance. Booking for that through Everyman also, as above.

Sugar is now running at Cork Arts Theatre, commemorating that heart-wrenching time when the last Irish sugar factory, in Mallow, closed its doors back in 2006.

Michael Patric plays Danyl Sweetnam, who describes his last days as an employee there, blending the human trauma of the time with laughter and a determined look at what can be good in life. He chronicles how they fought to win a fair redundancy settlement, and mirror that with his own personal fight with tragedy and loss.

An important piece, reminding us how much we have lost but also how much we can gain through determination and strength. Until Saturday, call 021 450 5624 or see www.corkartstheatre.com.