The best in local literature will be celebrated at the inaugural Mullingar Literary Festival, which gets underway this Friday.
Laurence Meehan, the Chairman of the Festival spoke to Topic ahead of the start of the festival, which will commence Caffrey’s Bar on Mount Street, at 5.30pm.
The launch will give a warm welcome to those in attendance and an overview of the weekends programme. The festival aims to celebrate Mullingar’s proud tradition of literature and music and will run over three days, from Friday, 4 July to Sunday, 6 July.
Laurence described this week as the final push before the festival gets underway, with last minute tweaks to make sure the festival runs smoothly. “This event was a full year in the build,” he said. “It’s a huge initiative behind the event. It’s locally funded and the town is coming together over this event. There is a large team behind this event to make it a success.”
The committee behind the event is hopeful the inaugural Literary Festival will serve as a ‘proof of concept’ for future events. Laurence noted that the town has been lacking local festivals in recent years since the Fleadh Cheoil. The event was bootstrapped with local business and writers supporting the event. “It is a dream fuelled by passion and community spirit.” Laurence said.
There are a number of exceptional literary voices at the event, whose roots are in Mullingar including, Patrica Gibney, Anne Griffin and Nicole Flattery. “The festival was born from the belief that literature is for everyone, the support from local businesses like Caffreys, The Greville Arms and our incredible library has been phenomenal.”
Laurence also gave special thanks to fellow committee members, Don Mortell, Jimmy O’Connell, Colm Muldoon, Brian McLoughlin and Samantha McKenna. The event in Caffrey’s will feature 3-D backgrounds and a full stage set-up over the weekend. There will also be raffles and competitions at the festival.
Events over the week end will take place in Caffreys Bar on Mount Street, the Greville Arms Hotel and the local town library, where a children’s reading event will take place. A special live performance by Cronin will take place on Friday night in the Greville Arms, following an appearance by writer and journalist Victoria Mary Clarke.
The format for the festival will have a deliberate mix of spoken word and music to keep the energy high and appeal to everyone. “It’s not just back to back readings,” said Laurence. “We’ve programmed it in a way that adds a bit of rhythm and energy to the days.”
While most of the events are free to attend, the Cronin performance on Friday night in the Greville Arms Hotel is a ticketed event with prices at €10 per ticket. Tickets will be available both at the door and through the official Mullingar literary Festival website.
The weekend will feature a mixture of readings, writing workshops, live music, and even a historical literary walking tour led by local historian Ruth Illingworth, tickets are €5 and children are free.
Other contributors include Jimmy O’Connell, local poet Brendan Martin, who has released his new book Wanderling, Paulie Martin who will deliver a talk on songwriting and the creative process, and a conversation with local author Patricia Gibney. The festival will also conclude with a community open mic session and live music by rising artist Naoson Moore.
For more information on the Festivals programme visit mullingarliteraryfestival.com
