Note to Editors: This release reflects recent program changes made by the planners of the Wake Forest University Irish Festival. It replaces a release distributed on Feb. 20.
Irish poetry, music, drama and dance will highlight Wake Forest University’s Irish Festival March 15 – 20. The six-day public festival coincides with St. Patrick’s Day.
The Wake Forest University Press, the premier publisher of Irish poetry in North America, sponsors the festival each year. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the press.
The celebration of Irish culture will begin March 15 with the Irish Festival Community Day at Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (adjacent to Wake Forest). The free community event will run from noon to 5 p.m. Last year, 2,500 people attended the outdoor event.
The Community Day will feature Irish music by the Morris Family, dancing by Rince na h’Eireann (The Triad Irish Dancers), storytelling by Andrew Leslie, and crafting activities for young and old. Irish food, including scones and butter, smoked salmon and capers, pub ham sandwiches and beverages, will be for sale at the event as well as arts and crafts.
The Morris Family performers are not only musicians, but also music historians. The five-member act specializes in the links between Celtic and immigrant American music. Their performance often juxtaposes a traditional Irish tune with its Appalachian translation.
As part of the festival, the Wake Forest University Theatre, the Virtual Theatre Project and Wake Forest University Press will present “Belfast Blues.” The one-woman, two-act play will be presented March 15 at 7:30 p.m., March 16 at 2 p.m. and March 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the MainStage Theatre of the Scales Fine Arts Center at Wake Forest. Admission is free.
“Belfast Blues” was written and will be performed by Geraldine Hughes. The play takes the audience on a fast-paced ride through the life of a girl growing up in war-torn Belfast.
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, at 8 p.m., the festival will present the Celtic band Whirligig at Ziggy’s on Baity Street in Winston-Salem. The event will be preceded by an Irish music and dance demonstration from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m., also at Ziggy’s. Admission for both is $5 and will be charged at the door.
The five-member Whirligig specializes in acoustic music rooted in Celtic and Irish traditions. Playing over 20 instruments among them, including the bouzouki, fiddle, whistles, pipes, button accordion and mandolin, Whirligig creates arrangements of traditional and original material.
Storyteller Eddie Lenihan from County Kerry, Ireland, will perform March 18 at 8 p.m. in the living room of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art on Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. Admission is $7 at the door, $5 for SECCA members.
Lenihan—a teacher, historian and folklorist— has spent years gathering the folklore of Southern Ireland. His stories tell of fairies, banshees, saints and ghosts drawn from Irish myths and legends.
Irish poets Caitríona O’Reilly and David Wheatley will read from their work March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the second-floor Reading Room of Carswell Hall at Wake Forest. A reception and refreshments will follow the free event.
Both born in Dublin, O’Reilly and Wheatley studied at Trinity College in the same city. O’Reilly’s first book, “The Nowhere Birds,” received the Rooney prize for Irish Literature. Wheatley is the founding editor of the literary journal Metre, a lecturer at the University of Hull and the author of “Thirst” and “Misery Hill.”
The festival will conclude on March 20 with an Irish poetry reading and recitation competition from 11 a.m. to noon in Shorty’s, located on the second floor of the Benson University Center at Wake Forest. The event is free and prizes will be awarded for the best performance.
Raffle tickets for an authentic Celtic harp will be sold at all events. The winner will be chosen March 20 at the poetry recitation and does not need to be present to win.
For additional information about the Irish Festival, call the Wake Forest University Press at 336-758-5448.
WFU Irish festival calendar of event
Saturday, March 15
Noon – 5 p.m. Wake Forest University Irish Festival Community Day at Reynolda House, Museum of American Art (adjacent to Wake Forest) featuring live Irish music, dancing and storytelling. Irish food and gifts will be on sale. Free.
7:30 p.m. “Belfast Blues,” a one-woman show written and performed by Geraldine Hughes about growing up in Belfast. MainStage Theatre of the Scales Fine Arts Center at Wake Forest. Free.
Sunday, March 16
2 p.m. “Belfast Blues,” a one-woman show written and performed by Geraldine Hughes about growing up in Belfast. MainStage Theatre of the Scales Fine Arts Center at Wake Forest. Free.
Monday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day)
7:30 p.m. “Belfast Blues,” a one-woman show written and performed by Geraldine Hughes about growing up in Belfast. MainStage Theatre of the Scales Fine Arts Center at Wake Forest. Free.
6 – 8 p.m. Irish music and dance demonstration preceding Whirligig at Ziggy’s on Baity Street in Winston-Salem. Admission for both events is $5 at the door.
8 – 10 p.m. Whirligig, a traditional yet original Celtic and Irish band, will perform at Ziggy’s on Baity Street in Winston-Salem. Admission is $5 at the door.
Tuesday, March 18
7:30 p.m. Irish storyteller Eddie Lenihan will perform in the living room of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art on Marguerite Drive in Winston-Salem. Admission is $7 at the door, $5 for SECCA members.
Wednesday, March 19
7:30 p.m. Irish poets Caitríona O’Reilly and David Wheatley, both from Dublin, will read from their work in the second-floor Reading Room of Carswell Hall at Wake Forest. Reception and refreshments to follow. Free.
Thursday, March 20
11 a.m. – noon. Irish poetry reading and recitation competition in Shorty’s on the second floor of the Benson University Center at Wake Forest. Free.
Categories: Arts & Culture, Happening at Wake
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