Wonderlust 2017: A compendium of creative possibilities

Rocking in a free world – The Women’s Podcast, Creative Ireland, The Hot Tub Pride Machine, Women on Walls, Young Hearts Run Free - Musicophilia, Crash Ensemble, JFDR (Iceland), Astrology, House of Yoga and Sean Nós Singing – it’s all happening at Wonderlust, Body&Soul 2017.

A little stage of curiosities at Body&Soul, Wonderlust is dedicated to the mutual exchange of wonder and discovery. Wonderlust was first staged at Body&Soul in June 2012, and was quickly voted a “hit of the Festival”. Now in our sixth year the Wonderlust line up has expanded to include talks, music, performance, poetry, yoga, movement and workshops with a host of participants from Ireland and beyond. Wonderlust 2017 presents a compendium of creative possibilities that promise to whet the appetite and indulge the senses.

By Day: Experiences, stories and exchanges that feature the people, ideas and current happenings that are animating Irish culture and society right now. Welcome to Saturday at Wonderlust where some of your favourite journalists will be joined by special guests in a stellar line-up that includes: making sense in the aftermath of shock elections either side of the Atlantic with former Washington Correspondent Simon Carswell, broadcaster Sarah Carey and others; the Walk of Shame with the Women’s Podcast presented by Kathy Sheridan, from Mother and Baby Homes to domestic abuse, from slut-shaming to body-shaming, women around the world have carried an often unspoken burden of shame; Can Creative Ireland transform our country’s approach to our creative sectors, and how is the story flowing so far? Arts Editor Laurence Mackin will chair a discussion with John Concannon (Creative Ireland), Mary Nally (Drop Everything cultural biennial), director Dave Tynan (Heartbreak, We Face This Land, Just Saying) and Mary Hickson (director of Clonmel Junction Festival and Sounds from A Safe Harbour); Patrick Freyne will be hacking the true cultural gems of Ireland, from country and western music to the Rose of Tralee; and Una Mullally presents The Hot Tub Pride Machine before leading a special Wonderlust Come Rhyme with Me with Vickey Curtis and guests. A vibrant, creative programme of talks and discussions will power up your Saturday on the most beautiful stage in Ballinlough.

We promise to take care of your tired body and souls on Sunday and have curated a special Wonderlust programme sprinkled with moments of enlightenment, connection and some good old-fashioned entertainment. We will be hosting people, performers and ideas that inspire and present new ways of looking at the world. Guests include Women on Walls with Eithne Harley, Lydia Lynch, Pauric Dempsey and Joan Mulvihill, Sean Nós Singing Workshop with Eithne Ní Chatháin (aka indie-folk artist, Inni-K) and piper Maitiú Ó Casaide, Experiencing the Cosmos with the trailblazing astrologers Andrew Smyth and Karen Morgan, House of Yoga with Karla Kelly, Slow Series with Aoife McElwain, economist Stephen Kinsella, playwright Ross Dungan and photographer Nathalie Marquez Courtney, Still Life with Kathy Scott, artist Fiona Cribben and Margie Jean Lewis with a super special event from Young Hearts Run Free |Musicophilia which explore the connections between literature and music with Siobhán Kane, Emmet Kirwan and Adrian Crowley.

By Night: Discover and savour a rich range of pop, soul, folk, traditional, contemporary classical and electronic sounds from some of the most exciting music artists around right now. Acts include Crash Ensemble with Katie Kim, Come on Live Long, JFDR Jófríður Ákadóttir, Farah Elle, Selk, Lyra, Proper Micro with DJ sets from Donal Dineen, Sally Cinnamon and Sunday Times!

The Wonderlust Stage is produced by Kathy Scott (The Trailblazery, Census of the Heart and the ireland: iceland project), David O’ Donovan and Fran Hogan, and in partnership with The Irish Times on Sat June 24.