The shutdown of public gatherings on Thursday, to help limit the spread of coronavirus, was a black day for arts and entertainment in Ireland.
A number of significant events and festivals that were ready to roll – many of which had involved months, or years, of planning and creative work, and significant investment – have had to be abandoned as a result of the threat of Covid-19.
Here are some of the major cancellations, plus details of some venues that are still open. This article is not exhaustive, and new information is still emerging; please check before travelling to ensure an event is going ahead.
Galway 2020
Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture on Thursday had to face the devastating decision to cancel one of its flagship events , Savage Beauty, a dramatic lighting show in Connemara, as it was about to open.
The setback comes after having already had to cancel its huge opening ceremony, in Galway city on February 8th, because of Storm Ciara. A team had been working since the start of March in north Connemara, 65km northwest of Galway city, on the shores of Loch na Fuaiche, in Joyce Country, close to the Co Mayo border.
Finnish light artist Kari Kola’s Savage Beauty was to illuminate an entire mountain, Ceann Garbh, in a Galway 2020 commission picking up on its theme of landscape by literally using it as a canvas. Visiting the site earlier this week, the logistically challenging – and imaginative – project was on course for four nights of illumination from Saturday, to be experienced over a 5km self-guided walk from across the lake.
Preparations involved a helicopter dropping 16 generators into position at intervals on the hillside, and laying 20km of cable on the remote mountain, to light 1,000 enormous lamps. Kola and the team are expected to privately film the illumination tonight and distribute it on Saturday.
Another big Galway 2020 commission, Branar theatre company’s Sruth Na Teanga, an immersive experience inside the terminal building of Galway’s former airport, due to run until the end of March, was closed. An epic telling the story of the Irish language, in the context of our history, it was another large-scale Galway 2020 commission.
The organisation said: “While Galway 2020 and our cultural partners are extremely disappointed to have made these decisions, public health is our number-one priority, and we must follow Government advice.”
A raft of other Galway 2020 events were postponed:
The Deepest Shade of Green – West of Sumer, Saolta Arts, launch and talk;
Northern Peripheries, Galway Stories through a Lens, Galway Film Centre in association with Screen Talent Europe;
West Words, Apeirogon, Galway Public Libraries;
Comhaltas – Moycullen, March 17th;
Livefeed (Loughrea);
Laurie Anderson, To the Moon;
Onside & National Football Exhibition, FAI;
Tulca – Threads;
Immersive Classroom, NUIG;
Reimagine Loughrea, Irish Architecture Foundation;
Buzzing – Kiltiernan National School.
Home Truths: Domestic Violence Response Exhibition, and Interaction, a Galway Theatre Festival launch, were also cancelled.
Where We Live
Where We Live, Thisispopbaby’s mini-festival within the St Patrick’s Festival, was due, on Thursday at 6pm, to start its run of 22 shows over 10 days at Project Dublin, exploring what it means and how it feels to live in Dublin and Ireland right now.
They “opened” – and immediately closed – Where We Live on Thursday evening, with Philip Connaughton, its choreographer, dancing impromptu on the street in Temple Bar.
The company said: “We understand that health and safety comes first. The artists put in so much work and energy into planning and creating their respective shows for this year’s festival, and we are hugely grateful to everyone for coming on the journey with us.”
St Patrick’s Festival
Following last week’s cancellation of St Patrick’s Day parades, and the large-scale public gatherings in Dublin’s St Patrick’s Festival, the Dublin festival yesterday cancelled the remainder of its extensive cultural programme, including music, talks, tours and the new stream of traditional singing and storytelling, Abair.
Irish National Opera: Carmen
Irish National Opera’s production of Carmen, due to run at Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from March 22nd to 28th, was cancelled; the theatre is closed until March 29th.
INO’s artistic director, Fergus Sheil, said: “This is an unprecedented situation, and we are deeply sorry to have to cancel all performances of Carmen, but of course we must put the wellbeing of our artists, workers and audience first.
“We know our audience will also be disappointed and ask for their understanding. We will endeavour to reassemble our team and perform it for the public at the first possible opportunity.”
Mountains to Sea
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s Mountains to Sea dlr Book Festival, set to run from March 26th to 29th, was cancelled – a year of planning lost.
Museums, galleries, theatres
Public museums and galleries, and theatres, are closed until March 29th, but some private galleries may remain open by appointment.
Books and bookshops
It’s a tough time for authors. Many book launches have been cancelled, including that for Alice Lyons’s first novel, Oona, this week, and that next week for The Weight of Love, the first novel by the playwright and Irish Times columnist Hilary Fannin.
Public launches may be cancelled, but books are still on sale, with many bookshops remaining open.
Dublin’s Gutter Bookshop tweeted: “Both of our bookshops remain open for business. We’re following all HSE/WHO advice regarding #coronavirus #Covid_19 & will continue to update as needs arrive & I’m currently beavering away at updating our online store to add lots of new stock!”
And Books Upstairs posted: “We don’t know what’ll happen to small businesses like ours during #lockdown. If anyone who’s not going to be in town for the coming weeks wants to stock up on books today, we would greatly appreciate a visit from you.”
Cinemas
Publicly funded cinemas such as IFI in Dublin, Triskel in Cork, and Limehouse Arts Centre in Limerick are closed. But commercial cinemas, including the IMC, Movies@ and Odeon chains, and others such as Cineworld and the Light House in Dublin and Palas in Galway, plan to open today, with reduced capacity, staggered start times, contactless payments and other precautions against Covid-19.
Cinema owners will be reviewing this daily. A sustained closure is thought to be a big threat to the viability of some cinemas. Please check for changes and precautions before making plans.
The Irish Times film critic Tara Brady observes that closures will “put strain on the film industry and could ruin individual smaller films, such as Vaclav Marhoul’s The Painted Bird, the most harrowing war film since Come and See.
Rescheduling smaller films will present problems, because some bigger upcoming films – Bond, Peter Rabbit 2, A Quiet Place II – have already been moved. There will be a glut in market at some point, with far too many films jostling to get into cinemas at some point in the future.”
