Popular Spleodar festival returns

Spleodar Halloween Arts Festival is back with a bang, bringing together the best of arts and culture in and around Nenagh.

This popular festival, now in its 24th year, is a firm favourite with families, offering a feast of creativity, colour and community spirit.

Running from October 27 to 31, this year's festival theme is all about the intersection of technology and tradition. It explores how digital natives can connect through participatory arts events and shared experiences.

Nenagh Arts Centre commissioned artist Melissa Ryan to capture Halloween traditions from the diverse community. These stories form a digital audio experience where you choose whose story you want to hear. The festival also commissioned artist Patrick McGlynn to create an interactive soundscape machine called the Phantom Groovebox, which allows the audience to explore and create their own Halloween soundscape.

A series of workshops will stimulate imagination, creativity and curiosity, including mask and lantern making, enchanted tales with Eddie Lenihan, a Dance like Wednesday Adams workshop, and a masterclass with Boss Rob.

The festival culminates with a vibrant promenade through the streets, gathering people as we go, like a Mummer pied piper, and ending at the CBS school for the annual spectacular fireworks.

The programme is now live on the Spleodar Halloween Arts Festival website (https://spleodar.ie/) and tickets can be booked online or at the box office at 067 34400.

Spleodar is the Irish for excitement or outburst of energy and that is what Spleodar Halloween Arts Festival is all about. Set up in 2000 as a community festival, it has quickly grown into a large scale spectacle event.