05/06/2012 -
Yeats Day - June 13th
A DAWN TO DUSK CELEBRATION OF WB YEATS BIRTHDAY
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE* Places will be filled on a first come, first-served basis.
Download Yeats Day Brochure (PDF) - 639 kbs
8.30am Breakfast at the Lake Isle
A boat trip across Lough Gill to the Lake Isle of Inisfree casts off Yeats Day with music, poetry and breakfast on board. Compère: Damien Brennan Meet Doorly Park, Sligo at 8am sharp
To book a place please ring George 087-2598869 *Cost: €30
or email: info@roseofinisfree.com
11.00am Happy Birthday at the Yeats Society
The illustrious Yeats Society pays its tribute to the Nobel Prize winner at the Yeats Memorial Building, Hyde Bridge, Sligo. The Yeats Building will be open until 6pm to host visitors on this special day.
Hyde Bridge, Sligo
11.30am The Living Statue
Swap your poetry for a ribbon: a one-day temporary installation of the public’s own poetry at the famous statue of WB Yeats, Stephen Street, complete with birthday window display in nearby Ulster Bank.
Yeats Statue, Stephen Street, Sligo
11.30am The National Library Collection
The Pollexfen Building in Wine Street, was home to WB Yeats’ mother’s family shipping business; on Yeats Day, it will exhibit a small collection of the poet’s works on special loan from the National Library of Ireland and Sligo IT.
The Pollexfen Building, Wine Street, Sligo
11.30am Film: Yeats, Sligo & Me
Premiere of a short film celebrating Yeats in the wider community specially commissioned by the Western Development Commission.
The Pollexfen Building, Wine Street, Sligo
11.30am "Yeats in Love" Exhibition
The Yeats in Love exhibition is a selection from the wonderful series of the same name by Sligo-based illustrator and cartoonist Annie West.
Drumcliffe Tea House, Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo
12noon The Japanese Connection
The Hamilton Gallery on Castle Street hosts a celebration of Yeats’ love and understanding of
Japanese Noh theatre with a specially commissioned exhibition by artist Yoko Akino.
The Japanese Connection will be opened by His Excellency Ambassador Atsumi.
4 Castle Street, Sligo
12.30pm Yeats Choral at the Library
The first outdoor performance at the County Library’s new garden stage at Stephen Street; Yeats’ Cup participants and winners perform their choices with a choral poetry performance from Eily Kilgallon’s School of Drama and the very young members of the Anne Carton Creche.
Stephen Street, Sligo
1.00pm Yeats and the Abbey in his own words
The Abbey Theatre travels to the Hawk’s Well, Temple Street, to celebrate this birthday and, in Yeats’ own words, provide insight into Yeats’ involvement in the foundation of Ireland’s National Theatre, the Abbey Theatre.
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple Street, Sligo
1.00pm Yeats & Son
The Model on The Mall will present a special birthday curator’s tour of its current double exhibition Yeats & Son; the works of John and his younger son Jack B Yeats from the acclaimed Niland Collection. The tour will be led by a guest curator from the National Gallery, in collaboration with the Model.
The Model, The Mall, Sligo
3.30pm Yeats Day launch
The official launch of the inaugural Yeats Day, by Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD at Drumcliffe Churchyard where WB Yeats is buried.
Winners of the Yeats Day special schools’ art competitions, the Hawk’s Well Theatre’s Cat & the Moon poetry competition, the Junior and Senior Yeats Cup winners and the Callan Tansey essay winner will meet the Minister at Drumcliffe.
Drumcliffe Churchyard, Drumcliffe, Co.Sligo
4.30pm - 6.30pm
Birthday Street Celebration
Happy Birthday Mr Yeats
The people of Sligo and beyond, young and old, gather in O’Connell Street to meet the fiddlers and fairies of WB Yeats imagination. Share some birthday cake, courtesy of Sligo Community Training Centre and O’Hehirs Bakery, enjoy poetry and music on this very special day.
Youth drama and visual arts group Branching Out and musicians from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann will join the festivities. Children's birthday cards will decorate shop windows and the young and younger are encouraged to don fairy clothing!
O’Connell Street, Sligo
5.30pm Film: The Creative Process – ‘Made in Sligo’
The Model, The Mall, Sligo
7.15pm iYeats Poetry Competition
The Hawk’s Well will launch the iYeats poetry competition; your chance to submit your own work.
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple Street, Sligo
7.00pm Yeats and the Abbey in his own words
A second chance to see the Abbey Theatre at the Hawk’s Well, providing an insight into WB Yeats’ involvement in the foundation of Ireland’s National Theatre – The Abbey.
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple Street, Sligo
7.15pm Party Piece
Time for your party piece; Come and sing, recite a poem or play a song or music in an evening’s entertainment hosted by inspiring musician and composer Shaun Purcell.
Hargadon’s O’Connell Street, Sligo
8.45pm No Crows at Dusk
Wonderful musicians No Crows will mark the end of the first Yeats Day in the beautiful 13th century Dominican Friary, Sligo Abbey.
Abbey Street, Sligo
Download Yeats Day Brochure (PDF) - 639 kbs
Twitter: yeatsday2012