IF you thought that Belfast’s summer festivals had come to an end – think again. This week sees the return of the Liú Lúnasa festival which runs from Thursday to Saturday and is jam-packed with events for the city’s Irish language community.
Now in its tenth year, the festival takes place at several venues with the Cultúrlann as the central hub.
According to Caoimhe Ní Chathail, who is part of the Liú Lúnasa organising committee, the festival stands out from other festivals in the city because it gives a platform to artists who are not viewed as mainstream.
“Liú Lúnasa continues to break boundaries and invites artists and musicians who probably wouldn’t get as big a stage elsewhere and gives them that opportunity to perform in front of crowds or to display their arts or to run workshops that maybe wouldn’t happen elsewhere," she said.
“It’s always been testing the boundaries of the Irish language culture that we have in this city and always giving first chances to some of our up-and-coming bands or poets and always trying to find the next big thing that is currently on the fringes.”
One of the highlights of the festival every year is the Slam Filíochta – the Slam Poetry – where poets write and perform their own poems.
“The star of the show is the Slam Poetry,” said Caoimhe. “The Slam started a number of years ago and was the first ever Irish language Slam Poetry competition and continues to be a magical night of poetry.
“Slam Poetry is the next chapter in the evolving story of poetry on this island and we’re really proud to be at the forefront of that.
“But then there are also our concerts with musicians and bands, primarily who are local but also from around the country, who are trying something new. Our intensive Irish course is always popular. And this year we have an Oíche Airneáil, which is a story-telling and song night in Maddens which is in memory of Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí who was at the forefront of new and contemporary Irish language events and which led us to where we are today as a community in terms of the events that we organise.”
Liú Lúnasa runs from August 29-31.
