Poetry and wellness event will bring Tipperary Bealtaine Festival to a conclusion

Tipperary Bealtaine will close on May 26 with an event at the Main guard in Clonmel

placeholder image — Tipperary Bealtaine will close on May 26 with an event at the Main guard in Clonmel

Jenny Cox and Eileen Acheson of Write Minds: Poetry & Wellness are honoured to be hosting the closing event for the Tipperary Bealtaine Festival, 2023.

Each year throughout the month of May, the Bealtaine Festival celebrates arts and creativity as we age across the nation. This year, Write Minds have brought their project, Return of the Light, to the Tipperary Bealtaine programme.

The three-part project began in March with a series of writing workshops held in the Clonmel Library. Members of the retired community were invited to take their pen for a walk in a fun, encouraging and supportive space with a view to creating a poem. Each participant produced wonderful pieces of poetry, and all felt inspired to go on and write more.

Following the workshops, an online call out invited writers at all stages to share a piece of poetry guided by the theme Return of the Light. Poems came in from all around the country and from the USA. These 49 gems can be seen on display in the Return of the Light Poetry Gallery in the Clonmel Library until the end of this month, during library opening hours.

The final strand to this project will be a spoken word evening taking place in the beautiful surrounds of the Main Guard in Clonmel on Friday 26th May at 7.30pm. A selection of poems from the Poetry Gallery will be read along with one or two surprise readings from some special guests and the glorious Belle Voci choir will be sharing a choral treat for the ears. Refreshments will be served on the night. Entry is free and all are welcome for what promises to be an engaging closing event for the Tipperary Bealtaine Festival, 2023. Doors open at 7pm so come along and find your seat! (Contact Jenny at [email protected] with any event queries.)

Jenny and Eileen would like to thank Tipperary Bealtaine and the Tipperary Arts Office for the opportunity to facilitate this project, and the Clonmel Library staff for all their help. More Bealtaine events can be viewed on www.bealtaine.ie.