Hinterland Kells opens tomorrow
This week's Hinterland Festival of Literature & Arts features an exciting programme of more than 60 events taking place in the heritage town of Kells from Thursday June 22nd to Sunday 25th June.
Formerly known as the Hay Festival Kells for the past four years, the newly rebranded festival promises plenty of literature, art, drama, music, history, film, politics, debate, food and children's events. Highlights include talks by artists such as film director Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Snapper), authors Sebastian Barry, Deirdre Purcell, Patricia Scanlan, Paul Howard and Ryan Tubridy, politicians Mary O'Rourke and Chris Mullin, historians Myles Dungan and Diarmaid Ferriter, broadcasters John Bowman and Donncha Ó Dúlaing and many others. Participating children's and young adult fiction authors include Oisin McGann, Judi Curtin and Shane Hegarty.
Evening entertainment will be provided in the form of music with singer Saramai and comedy with Neil Delamere. An exciting addition to this year's programme is the inclusion of Lit Crawl, which will bring bring literature to the streets from 5pm to 8.30pm on Sunday June 25th and feature a range of free weird and wacky events in some unusual venues. Events confirmed so far include an immersive adaptation of The Dead read in a local funeral parlour.
The annual Kells TypeTrail remains part of the Hinterland Festival and local artist Mark Smith masterminds a series of art installations in Kells. This year, the TypeTrail will also manage the reinstatement of a working Letterpress Printing Wortks, which was found unused for 30 years in a local Kells shop. It is one of only five in Ireland and the only other one still working is in The National Print Museum. A series of exciting print-related events are also planned during the Festival.
Festival Chairperson Ger Gaughran thanked the sponsors, committee members and volunteers that make the Festival possible and also acknowledged the generous support of Meath County Council and its Arts Office and the LEADER programme. Ms Gaughran also paid tribute to Antonia Daly of Antonia''s Bookstore in Trim. Antonia helps Myles Dungan and Hay Wales Director Lyndy Cooke to compile the Hinterland programme and also donates 10% of any book sales during the event back to the Festival.
Browse the programme and book tickets online at www.hinterland.ie or phone 085 889 6352. The box offices are also open from Monday to Saturday at Antonia's Bookstore in Trim and The BookMarket Café in Kells. During the Festival, tickets are available for collection and sales at the ticket office in Kells Theatre. Â