05 May 2015
It's a huge year for the Isle of Man at Europe’s largest Celtic festival, Festival Interceltique Lorient (7 – 16 August) in Brittany. Sharing the status of ‘honoured nations’ with fellow Celtic nation, Cornwall, this is the first time that the Isle of Man has been the main focus of the 45 year old festival. Isle of Man FIL delegate Ealee Sheard has been working with the main financial supporter, Culture Vannin, to prepare an impressive showcase of all things Manx. IOM Arts Council has also provided a grant to ensure that the presentation is of the highest quality.
A delegation of over 100 musicians & dancers will be heading off to the festival to represent the Isle of Man, including Barrule, Ny Fennee, Ruth Keggin, Rushen Silver Band, Caarjyn Cooidjagh, Russell Gilmour, Strengyn, Mec Lir and many others. Attracting over 800,000 visitors and journalists from all over Europe, the 2015 festival will centre around a pavilion and stage presented by the Isle of Man and Cornwall. Peter Young from Event Management Solutions is managing the pavilion presentation for Culture Vannin, and is currently working with the Cornish delegation to design a venue which will represent both the unique and shared qualities of our two countries through food & drink, culture, heritage, language, arts & crafts, and tourist information. The pavilion stage will have a packed schedule of Manx and Cornish acts, some of which will also be involved in officially programmed performances in other festival venues. There will be two major Manx/Cornish gala events in the Grand Theatre and Espace Marine, and a featured segment within the popular Nuits Interceltiques – an extravaganza of music, dance, film and fireworks. The Festival committee has also planned a TT themed event, which will attract riders from the region, so a really broad cross-section of Manx culture will be promoted.
Four visual artists from the Island will join four from Cornwall to present a contemporary art exhibition which centres on the theme of mythology – heroes and legends, past-present. The four Manx artists are Juan Moore, Julie Roberts, Eileen Schaer and Will Sutton, whose work has been selected to complement that of the Cornish artists. A steering group across government brings the expertise of Tourism (DED), DEFA and MNH to help structure and support the presentation. Local food and drink suppliers and other businesses have also been very supportive. Overall, this year’s presentation represents a working partnership between Culture Vannin, the IOM Arts Council (DEC), DEFA, DED, MNH and local businesses on the Manx side and Cornwall Council and the Cornish Language Partnership in Cornwall. Lorient 2015 represents an amazing opportunity for the Isle of Man to showcase its culture to huge audiences – we’re very much looking forward to it! Find out more… www.festival-interceltique.bzh
See the festival taster video (featuring music by Barrule)
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