Spring festivals are back on(line)

By Ellen O'Regan

In 2020, the cultural calendar was pretty much wiped out by the coronavirus, and in particular springtime events were derailed by the sudden first wave of the pandemic.

This year, event organisers are beginning to adapt to delivering programmes virtually, and we can look forward to the return of both the Cork St Patrick’s Day Festival and the Cork Choral Festival in the coming months.

Cork St Patrick’s Day Festival is back with a programme of activity that will be delivered and enjoyed safely over the days leading up to 17 March. The plan is to hold a hybrid festival with virtual and physical elements, which will include contributions from across the communities of Cork city, and which will be developed to align with the regulations in place.

The Cork Choral Festival is streaming a diverse programme of virtual concerts and choir videos from 29 April – 2 May.

It is also running a competition for virtual workplace choirs, to help people struggling with feelings of isolation while working from home.

Artistic Director of the festival Peter Stobart expects technology and streaming to become more central to the festival in future.

“Our online presence was pretty much non-existent before, and now it’s all we have. Inevitably we’ll be carrying that on,” he said.

As Cork County Council has begun to deliver virtual festival training to organisers of 33 of Cork’s festivals, we can look forward to more culture from the comfort of our own homes as the year goes on.

Commenting on the training, Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley said: “The unprecedented impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected the Cork festival calendar in 2020 with organisers doing their best to deliver virtual events where possible. This year, we know that the impacts will continue, and the virtual offering will be a critical aspect of the festival scene.

“We are delighted to support festivals organisers and assist them in adapting through this training.”

While the future remains relatively uncertain, and events which don’t lend themselves to online re-invention such as the Kinsale Sevens and the West Cork Motor Rally have been cancelled for another year, we can bet that our cultural calendar will start to see some life again through virtual festivities!