Houses and dragons to take to Cork’s streets

Finnian Cox

Giant houses, elderly witches, and most importantly the Dragon of Shandon will all take to the streets of Cork this Halloween, as the parade returns tonight for its 19th year.

Presented by Cork Community Art Link, the Dragon of Shandon is an annual parade consisting of huge, complex floats as well as musicians, dancers and actors.

A celebration of the ancient Irish tradition of Samhain, the event sees a 36 foot dragon (carefully crafted from tape) rise from the dead, accompanied by other, equally meticulously crafted floats.

Moray Bresnihan, Manager at Cork Community Art Link described to the Cork Independent what strange creations can be seen at the parade, which kicks off tonight at 7pm.

“We have a bunch of new ones this year,” said Mr Bresnihan, when asked about the other floats. “There’s our large shadow queen, who’s huge - 5 metres tall. Her outfit is outrageous. At the bottom of her dress, there will be a shadow play, with two people inside illuminated acting it out,” he said.

There is no shortage of creativity when it comes to the floats, something evident from the Dragon, the Shadow Queen, and the second new addition, the Babayaga float.

“It’s based on an old Slavic tale about a witch, one we would probably know as Hansel and Gretel,” said Bresnihan. “Her whole cottage will be moving up and down on pistons, with puppets jumping out of the windows.”

While the floats are impressive, there are plenty of other things to see in the parade at ground level, with over 400 participants from 20 different community groups involved.

French afro-soul band Santa Machete will feature on a float, with the Cork Butter Exchange Band and the Kahlyna Ukrainian Choir all perform on the move.

They will be surrounded by dancers from Tribe Dance Academy, the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance, and the famous Kabin Studio.

Each float is built by volunteers, with the organisers working with the likes of Cope and Enable Ireland to create a piece of art that is literally moving.

“The volunteers develop their own ideas on how to go about it, and then they build it and operate it themselves,” said Moray Bresnihan.

“We’ve also been running these drop-in volunteer workshops, where people can just pop in to help make props,” he said.

Most of the materials used in the construction of the floats, props, and costumes are recycled materials, with people donating cardboard, felt, and fabrics.

“We also use a lot of old election posters,” added Bresnihan. “Unfortunately, the politicians are copping on and not dating them so that they can re-use them, which means we can’t!”

Though the gigantic floats, musical mix and dancers would be enough to keep anyone entertained, there will also be troupes of actors in costume adding to the parade’s eerie nature.

According to the manager of Cork Community Art Link, they will be trying to convey a narrative throughout the play, from its beginning on Church Street, proceeding down Shandon Street, onto North Main Street, turning left onto Castle Street, before concluding with a grand finale at the Coal Quay.

With 15,000 people expected to be in attendance, the organisers encourage those interested to dress in costumes or facepaint to add to the festivity of the event.