Come together for Culture Night

This year’s Culture Night is set to be a celebration of the further return of arts and cultural events and venues in Cork after a very long wait.

The return of indoor music, art, dance and theatre events are now tantalisingly close.

Now in its 16th year, Culture Night again presents a showcase of creative Cork city, with over 70 venues and organisations taking part. This year’s suitable theme is Come Together Again, something which will soon be more possible.

Culture Night, which heralds the autumn arts season is in planning across the country, and Cork city’s cultural community have some real treats in store.

Officially launched on Tuesday at Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork City Culture Night takes over our streets and venues on Friday 17 September.

Cork City Culture Night provides an opportunity for those directly involved in the arts to showcase exactly why this sector is so vitally important, and so intrinsically linked with our culture.

At the launch, Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Colm Kelleher said: “Culture Night is always a favourite evening for people all across the city, myself included. Last year, venues across the city went above and beyond to ensure that the people of Cork would still be able to enjoy Culture Night, albeit in a different way to previous years.

“And in 2021 they have done this yet again, adjusting to changing guidelines to ensure this year’s programme has another fantastic variety of in-person, outdoor and online events for all to enjoy safely. From visual arts to music, film and literature, there truly is something for everyone - and I am encouraging the people of Cork to ‘come together again’ and enjoy these free events for Cork City Culture Night 2021.”

Among the highlights in 2021 are:

Upstaged – Culture Night in the Park is a celebration of street arts planned for Fitzgerald’s Park. A series of short circus and street performance shows have been programmed by Circus Factory for the event. Also part of this event is a walkabout pageant, ‘The Marriage Of Cultures’ from Cork Puppetry Company, and other fun arts activities are still being added to the line-up. Sample Studios will show the exhibition ‘Slow Puncture’ by Lily O’Shea in the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion. See more on page 27.

This year Culture Night hosts several more outdoor events. Also sited in Fitzgerald’s Park, but to be seen in various other city locations too, are elements of GRAFT, five temporary public artworks commissioned by the Glucksman and the National Sculpture Factory together. Encompassing film, sound, ceramics, textiles and metal, these very different works by notable artists form a trail to find and to follow.

IndieCork Festival’s ‘Creative Cork Showcase’ will delight film buffs. A programme of Cork shorts from recent years will be shown at the festival’s partner venue The Gate Cinema especially for Culture Night, as a taste of the festival which begins on 19 September.

Another Cork City Art Trail sees an exhibition by artist Ciara Chapman in shop windows around the city. This unique exhibition ties in with September as Chronic Pain Month, and chronicles a life lived while dealing with chronic pain.

‘Rembrandt in Print’ is the title of another exhibition likely to be popular this Culture Night, featuring a collaborative Print Studio with Cork Printmakers, this will be showcased at the Crawford Art Gallery.

While some events are taking place virtually, much of the 2021 programme can be accessed in person, safely in line with new guidelines as they come on stream. With numbers still very limited, patrons are advised to check booking requirements, and if plans change, to please release the tickets to allow someone else attend.

Many in-person events this Culture Night will require booking, and some online events require pre-registration. View the full Cork City Culture Night programme on culturenightcork.ie, and keep up with latest news via @corkcityarts on Facebook and Twitter, and on instagram.com/culturenightcorkcity particularly as new guidelines may lead to changes. Join in the conversation online with #CorkCultureNight and #ComeTogetherAgain.

Cork City Culture Night is brought to you by the Arts Council in partnership with Cork City Council. Proudly supported by media partners the Cork Independent, CorkBeo.ie and Cork’s Red FM.