Longford Arts: Memorable festival in Edgeworthstown

Longford's vibrant arts community were out in force at the weekend as the Maria Edgeworth Festival of Literature & Arts attracted revellers from right across the country to a number of events.

From the inspiring opening by acclaimed psychotherapist, Dr Richard Hogan, to the magical performance of New York band Los Lorcas on the Green, it was a weekend to last long in the memory of all who attended.

Cementing its reputation as the premium literary and arts festival in the midlands the gathering boasted a programme that had something for everyone.

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There was a large gathering in the library to hear Dr Richard Hogan discuss the challenges facing parents, teachers and young people growing up in this fast -changing world of technology and social media.

Richard pointed out in stark reality the issues we all face to take control of our society. The monetisation of our lives by the big tech companies and how we, in our ordinary lives, can take steps to avoid being consumed by social media were discussed by the eminent psychotherapist.

The general feeling among the audience is that Richard will have to return to Edgeworthstown to continue this important discussion in the near future.
The festival next moved to the Heritage Trail where visitors to the town were shown the wonderful sites and locations associated with so many famous historical figures.

It was then back to the Hub Co-Worx where there was a wonderful art exhibition organised jointly by Clare McEnroe from Co-Worx and the Midlands Artists Group. Maria Walsh Fine Gael MEP and election candidate dropped in.

MEP Walsh was amazed at the progress being made in Edgeworthstown and the transformation of the town with the new Hub, Library and Museum and Visitor Centre. Keeping the quick pace going it was back to Co-Worx for the Open Mic poetry event hosted by the Longford Writers Group and it attracted visitors from all parts of the island, from Belfast to Cork.

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The first day of the festival came to a close with a comedy evening in the Goldsmith Inn with the host Jimmy Jest making sure everything went smoothly. Jimmy is no stranger to comedy and he brought the house down with his quick and unique form of wit and humour.

Saturday saw a large number of very well attended workshops with poetry, story-telling and creative writing hosted by Victoria Kennefick, Sheila Forsey, órla Mc Govern and Craig Lucas. It was then on to the wonderful setting of the Green Pavilion where visitors were entertained by various artists from the poetry of Victoria Kennefick to readings by Sheila Forsey and the conversation of Fergus Cronin and Sheila Reilly.

Musical entertainment on the evening was provided by Corrien Bushell McCormack accompanied by Derek Mahady there was also Lucy Sky Dunne and up and coming young artist of immense talent who played the harp. The M C for the evening was our own Elizabeth Fitzsimons.

The weather was very kind on Sunday for the big Afternoon Tea Party and Artisan and Craft event. There was a very large attendance on the day with wonderful feed-back. The costume element of the festival is growing in reputation and participants travelled from as far as Donegal and Wicklow to take part.

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The costume event attracted a lot of young people this year. It was wonderful to see them express themselves through fashion creations mainly made by themselves. The local Scor group entertained for the early session, these were followed by Los Lorcas all the way from New York with their ‘From Raglan Rd to Thunder Rd’ Their performance was something special and again live on in the memory of those attending the event.

The hard working festival committee pulled out all the stops this year and the festival is now the premier arts and literary event in the Midlands. The event was supported by Creative Longford, Longford Tourism, Longford Art Services, Poetry Ireland and many local sponsors to which the committee are very grateful.