Environmental broadcaster Duncan Stewart and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group’s Fiacc O Brolcháin are among participants in this year’s Conamara Sea Week Festival.
The programme of workshops, art, music, walks and talks takes place in Lettefrack from October 21st to 29th, with a climate action and biodiversity theme.
Local students from primary and secondary schools, Youthreach, Galway Regional Education and Training Board and Atlantic Technological University (ATU) will all be involved in the 39th annual event, initiated by Leo Hallissey.
Clean Coast, which works with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline and ocean life, will host workshops in the local schools.
Artists and designers will work with students to create a spectacular Night Light’s exhibition, a magical display of lights throughout the village.
Local and visiting musicians will perform on both weekends, in Veldon’s Seafarer Pub. This year’s line-up includes Liz and Yvonne Kane with Muireall Murray, Don Stiffe and the Hernon family, Matt and Conor Kane, accordion player Daithí Gormley, Josephine Marsh and more.
Stewart will be joined by researchers from ATU Marine Biological Resources programme, while Sven Habermann from Conservation Letterfrack, who recently returned from a two-month project in Antarctica, is also a participant.
Interface Inagh, renowned for its dynamic exploration of art and science, will host Noeline Kavanagh, former artistic director of Macnas, while artists Seçil Yaylalý and Selin Atik of PASAJist Art Space in Istanbul, Turkey, will host a workshop on mask-making.
Connemara National Park will be the location for a series of guided walks and biodiversity workshops, and the programme includes a mini boat regatta, a pond-dipping activity and an oyster shell painting workshop.
The full programme can be downloaded at connemaraseaweek.ie.
