Bealtaine Fest’s 20th Birthday Celebrations

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MICHAEL FOLEY, Head of Evaluation & Public Affairs, Age & Opportunity talks to Noel McGuinness about this year’s Bealtaine Festival events on Dublin’s north side.

An estimated 120,000 people now take part in the Bealtaine festival, making it one of Ireland’s biggest arts festivals. From dance to cinema, painting to theatre, Bealtaine showcases the talents and creativity of both first-time and professional older artists.

It is a chance for people to make new and challenging work, a chance to communicate traditions between the generations. It is a chance for the novice to discover a talent until then unseen and a chance for a long-dormant skill to find a new outlet.

Each year, Age & Opportunity invites local authorities, arts centres, libraries, Active Retirement groups, care settings, community groups, clubs and associations from every part of the country to run Bealtaine events that celebrate creativity as we age. In 2014 they had 647 organisers.

The Bealtaine festival was established in Ireland in 1996.

Bealtaine is an Age & Opportunity initiative part-funded by the Arts Council and delivered by hundreds of organisations around the country.

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