The very first annual Lughnasa International Friel Festival (LIFF) runs from now until the 31st August and is set to celebrate Ireland’s greatest modern playwright Brian Friel through the medium of music, dance, theatre, kites and more. Funded by Belfast City Council and Tourism NI this is a major two-part festival taking place in both Belfast and County Donegal to bring the themes and experiences of Friel’s plays to life.
The Donegal portion of the festival, Donegal, Welcome to Friel Country runs from now until the 26th of August, before heading up to Belfast with, BELFAST, HERE I COME! running from the 26th until the 31st of August. Directed by Sean Doran, LIFF is a new type of festival:
The Biofestival is a new arts festival programming approach that is inspired exclusively by the biography detail and work of a single artist. This is then framed through the relevant art forms to the artist and presented within a biodynamic sense of place so that the festival is uniquely sited, highly experiential for its audience and particular to its locale.
With many free events, BELFAST, HERE I COME! boasts five open air stages for dancing, a harvest food festival, classical and traditional music and Belfast’s first ever kite festival – Kitetanica. Amongst Women is an all-woman talks programme featuring Shami Chakrabarti, Director, UK Liberty; Kamila Shamsie, Pakistani novelist and commentator; Kathy Lette, comedien and author; Mary Portas, retail guru; Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian novelist and political and cultural commentator, and Sandi Toksvig, writer presenter, comedian and politician. There will also be a new signature production of Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa presented at the Lyric Theatre Belfast.
For more information and to see what events are on go to the website here.
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