Éigse Carlow is delighted to be working with local Carlow schools and we’re very enthusiastic about growing and expanding this part of the programme to invest in our children’s future. It was also a great pleasure to work with the Springhill Trust again in 2009. If you'd like your school to be involved, please contact us after the festival and we will work on plans for 2010. Below is a list of the school projects that happened in 2009. We are now busy on creating new projects for 2010.
The 2009 Éigse Springhill Trust Poster Competition
The 2009 poster competition focused on entries from three special needs schools in Carlow - St. Lazarian’s, Saplings and The Holy Angels. The winning poster was converted by our graphic designers into a professional event poster and distributed in the run up to Éigse as promotion for the festival.
The 2009 Éigse Springhill Trust Young Critics Forum
The Young Critics Forum left nothing uncovered during the festival. A cast of young critics took part in ‘round table discussion’ workshops facilitated by local writer Dave Donohue. These young critics attended a range of events at Éigse to deconstruct and scrutinise the programme of events. The reviews were printed shortly after the festival in The Carlow Nationalist - Éigse’s media partner. Keep an eye out to see for this exciting project again in 2010 and see what the young critics have to say about the Éigse festival!
The 2009 Éigse Springhill Buí Bolg Workshops
Teenagers in Carlow Youth Theatre received a workshop on street theatre, puppetry and improvisation from Buí Bolg in the run up to the festival. This project culminated in a joint performance of street entertainment / ‘happenings’ on the streets of Carlow during the 2009 festival. Colourful puppets and performers adorned the streets of Carlow. These highly animated puppets and larger than life characters got up to lots of antics!
Visual Arts Schools Interpretive Talks and Workshops
A number of school tours of the visual arts exhibitions are provided on an annual basis during the festival. Artist Derry Dillon gave easy to understand talks about the artworks on display and helps school children and their teachers to develop a better understanding of the wide range of visual arts on display.
2009 Ger Wolfe, Song-writing Workshops for Schools
Cork singer-songwriter Ger Wolfe provided a beautiful workshop on song-writing to the students in St. Mullins National School in south Co. Carlow. The songs the children composed during the workshop were premiered in a special concert for parents and teachers that afternoon. We’re told some budding songwriters will owe their fame to Éigse in the coming years!
