Stone Mad Storytelling festival
The ‘Stone Mad’ Storytelling Festival is set to kick off in the Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark area on the weekend of October 24-27th, 2024.
Venues in Finney, The Neale, Clonbur, Cong, Ballinrobe and elsewhere in the area will host a programme of events made up of varied genres of the art of storytelling to include professional storytellers, ‘walk and talk’ history strolls, music, film and drama … all with the odd cup of tea, or stronger, in hand! Significantly, local groups will host and participate in the activities and these include Women’s/Men’s Sheds, Ciorcail Comhrá, writers groups, primary schools and community groups in the Geopark area.
This inaugural running of the Festival has emerged from the partnership of the Mourne, Gullion and Strangford Geopark in County Down and the Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark. The successful Storytelling festival in Hilltown in County Down, ‘The Gathering’, which runs in early March each year, has set the bar on how to cleverly exploit and blend the various genres of storytelling and bring it to audiences in a totally different and most engaging way. The organisers of that event are now assisting the Joyce Country Geopark partners to put on a similar Festival over three days and nights AND are bringing outstanding professional performers with them to showcase their talent and delight audiences here in South Mayo and the Joyce Country.
This festival is organised by Joyce Country and Western Lakes GeoEnterprise in partnership with Hilltown Community Association and funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’ s Co-operation with Northern Ireland Funding Scheme.
Download the full programme of events here.