Bealtaine Festival 2025, marking 30 phenomenal years of celebrating arts and creativity as we age
We are delighted to be celebrating Bealtaine Festival’s 30th Anniversary at Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre. Coordinated by Age and Opportunity, the Bealtaine Festival takes place each May throughout Ireland, and involves thousands of participants, community groups, and organisations. There is so much happening this month both at the arts centre and around West Cork. Have a look at our jam-packed festival programme below, we hope to see you at some of our upcoming events!
Bealtaine Artist in Residence at Uillinn
Each year to celebrate Bealtaine, Cork County Council in partnership with Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre invites an open call for artists over 50 years old to take part in a month-long residency at the arts centre. This year the award went to Bernie Masterson.
Bernie is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Dublin. ‘With my work I seek to find alternative points of view to create new conversations around issues that matter to me.’
Can You See Me Now
1 to 31 May
Studio open to public on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Can You See Me Now is a multimedia art project that explores the notion of identity as we progress into older years in life, and what that means in contemporary Ireland today. Bernie Masterson’s research will examine cultural attitudes, language, and behaviour in relation to aging, with a multidisciplinary approach using film / drawing and painting as investigative tools.
These inquiries will take the form of portraits involving both individual and group work as a means of self-reflection and encounter. The material gathered from this research through collaborative studio sessions will inform the development of a new creative lens-based work.
Keep an eye out for details of events tied to Bernie’s residency.
Bealtaine Exhibition at Uillinn
3 to 31 May, Uillinn Stairwell and Corridor Galleries,
Uillinn West Cork Arts Centre, Monday to Saturday 10:00am to 4:45pm
Free, no booking required
This year’s Bealtaine Exhibition at Uillinn features a new collection of work from Arts for an Active Mind reflecting their personal experiences of this year’s Bealtaine theme, Lust for Life. Arts for an Active Mind has taken place weekly at West Cork Arts Centre for over 20 years. The exhibition will also showcase a selection of work produced in the last year through Arts for Health Partnership Programme in Community Hospitals and Day Care Centres across West Cork.
In the Picture, goes on tour for 2025
7 May, 11am to 1pm
The Maritime Hotel, Bantry
Contact Gemma on 087 910 3036
May’s Memory Café in Bantry will feature In the Picture – on tour, an Arts for Health programme which usually takes place in Uillinn Galleries. Attendees of the café will experience the unique opportunity of having the gallery brought to them! Facilitated by Sarah Ruttle, participants will share conversation around the ideas brought forward by looking at and exploring the selected artworks.
The session will feature artwork from an exhibition taking place at Uillinn, Athmhúscail by Sonia Caldwell.
Through this exhibition, artist Sonia Caldwell delves into our evolving relationship with spirituality and religious institutions, highlighting our ongoing need for a spiritual dimension in life, and the growing importance of a nature-centered approach to religious belief and practice.
The Town That Has Nurtured My Dreams at Fastnet Film Festival
25 May, 3:30pm – 4:35pm
The Garden, Fastnet Film Festival
www.fastnetfilmfestival.com
A new film created by the residents of Skibbereen Community Hospital with musician and composer Justin Grounds will have its debut screening at Schull’s annual Fastnet Film Festival this May. Starting life as a song-writing project through Arts for Health Partnership Programme, The Town That Has Nurtured My Dreams has become a celebration of Skibbereen, and the stories and creativity of the people who call it home.
Bealtaine Exhibition at Bantry Library
1 to 31 May
Bantry Library, Tuesday to Saturday 9:30am – 5:30pm
Free, no booking required
Visual artist Michael Greenlaw worked with over 30 Arts for Health participants at Bantry Day Care Centre across 8 sessions to create this beautiful exhibition. Proudly displayed at Bantry library, the work celebrates that great symbol of summer – the sun!
Keep an eye on our News page and social media throughout the month of May for more information on our fantastic Bealtaine events!