Unleash the dragon
This Halloween, a 36 foot dragon will once again be let loose on the streets of Cork escorted by ghostly ghouls, spooky skeletons and beastly creatures of the underworld.
Now in its 18th year, The Dragon of Shandon Parade celebrates the ancient tradition of Samhain in a night time parade which attracts thousands of spectators, young and old, to the city on 31 October.
The colossal dragon, which is made from tape, and animated by a team of 12 puppeteers, will commence its serpentine procession through the city streets from 7pm.
The parade will start on Church Street and travel down the length of Shandon Street, North Main Street, Castle Street, Cornmarket Street and finish with a series of performances on the Coal Quay.
Spectators can expect performances from the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance, CCAL Drama Troupe, Slí Danú, The Butter Exchange Band and The Coal Quay Shawlies. The parade is a collaborative, community effort, drawing upon the dedication of numerous volunteers and groups who breathe life into the annual Dragon spectacle.
Organised by the charity Cork Community Art Link (CCAL), this year, the creative forces of Blackpool Community Access Programme, Suisha Inclusive Arts (COPE Foundation), and the National Learning Network have been tirelessly making the parade's artwork.
Speaking about the dedication of the volunteers, a member of CCAL said: “It's been a real honour to watch all of the groups' participants learn and grow over the last few weeks.”
Over the course of the dragon programme, CCAL have run over 30 free community volunteer workshops. 500 parade performers will volunteer on the night after engaging in various community initiatives, and there have been 7,200 rolls of tape used to create the dragon to date.
However, with increasing costs to manage every year, raising funds to keep the parade alive has proved challenging for the organisers.
With a tight budget and financial pressures, last month a GoFundMe was set up to help with the cost of bringing the dragon back to the city.
“CCAL needs the public’s support now more than ever to continue bringing this one-of-a-kind community driven event to the streets of Cork for the benefit of all,” it said. “Every donation will help us finance The Dragon of Shandon.”
According to the GoFundMe page, a €10 donation will “buy volunteer ‘tapers’ 2 rolls of tape to doctor the dragon back together and bring skeleton puppets to life”, while €40 “will buy materials for costumes, masks and face-paint for one of the 500 parade performers”.