Tipp-top acts for Electric Picnic
Tipperary artists and activists will be Tipp-top of the line-up at Electric Picnic’s Global Green this year, with Cloughjordan-based NGO Cultivate once again building and curating this much-loved haven of culture, creativity and conversation on the fringe of Ireland’s biggest music festival.
Upperchurch folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Cáit Ní Riain is one of the headline acts in Global Green’s Elements of Change tent on Sunday Night, while other Tipp acts to feature will include Ballycommon’s Nat Stone, whose storytelling lyrics and soulful vocals draw on America, motown and jazz, and Nenagh’s Bubba Shakespearre, with his self-styled “conscious-culchie” hip hop.
There’s also a poetry slam with Cloughjordan based spoken-word artists Mel White and Alice Boyd-Taylor, while local acts will keep toes tapping late into the night too, including the deep soundscapes of BRED (Conor Fahy, originally from Cloughjordan, now based in Cork) and Cloughjordan DJs Ollie Moore, Ruairi McBride and Anacalypsis bringing the curtain down on Sunday night with their legendary closing party.
As well as being organised by Cloughjordan-based Cultivate, this year’s Global Green also features Cloughjordan Community Farm – have a go on their bicycle-powered apple-press and make your own apple juice! – and interactive games with Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
COMMUNITY POWER
Nenagh-based community energy generator, and supplier, Community Power will also open the doors to their Solar Salon again, providing a space to relax, recharge (yourself and your devices), and take part in “counter-culture” bar stool conversations by day, and to chill-out to music, song and comedy as evening falls.
It doesn't stop there, with even more Tipp artists and activists gracing the Global Green, including musicians Patrick O’Connor, Nick Ward, Sarah Szucs and Ru O’Shea; the Cloughjordan Palestine Justice group, and Orrin Moore, who will deliver a workshop based on the TeamUp methodology, a trauma-informed intervention using movement and play to support the well-being of children affected by conflict and migration.
The Premier County aside, this year’s Elements of Change tent at Global Green brings an exciting and eclectic mix of music: Ganzí are a five-piece from Limerick blending reggae, hip hop, and R&B into groove-heavy, harmony-rich tunes; DJ Paul Ryan brings riddim-driven South African ghetto township vibes with sprinkles and tinkles of dancehall, reggae and tropical; Dublin hillbilly-funk and harmony outfit The HQs weave folk, bluegrass, rock and funk; Cork DJ Charlotte Walsh blends techno, bass and ghettotech with progressive house and breakbeat; while Nightwood sing haunting ballads, wordless songs and intimate folk.
SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE
This year’s Global Green also features a big focus on solidarity with Palestine, and providing a space for some hugely talented Palestinian acts in Ireland. Leen Maroof is a multi-talented Palestinian-Lebanese singer, musician, and performer, who will amaze the crowd with her spell-binding voice, while Abood Aladham is a Palestinian-Syrian champion beatboxer.
Getting down to activism, Lynn Boylan (MEP and chair of the delegation for relations with Palestine in the European Parliament) and doctor and activist Rupa Marya (co-author of the UN report Health Care Workers as Human Rights Defenders) will speak about how we can take action for the Palestine, while the group Mothers against Genocide will showcase their Palestine Olive Tree Installation, which stands as a living symbol of Palestinian rootedness, resilience, and steadfast presence on their land, central to both livelihood and spirit.
OUR NATURAL WORLD
Global Green will also have its own tranquil green garden oasis curated by Community Gardens Ireland, and featuring Talamh Beo, Ireland’s agroecological farming organisation, who will highlight practical ways we can build food sovereignty and local food economies. There will also be a biodiversity zone hosted by the National Parks & Wildlife Service and members of the Irish Environmental Network, dedicated to inspiring deeper connection with nature and offering hands-on activities and creative ways to celebrate and regenerate our natural world.
Local, sustainable food production is a big focus of this year’s Global Green – Rupa Mayra will be in conversation with Cloughjordan’s Ollie Moore about decolonising agriculture and community health, after a screening of her film Farming is Medicine.
Talamh Beo and the Union of Agriculture Work Committees, Palestine, will also speak about how we can practically and materially intervene on the ground in Palestine through supporting farmers, their campaigns and organisations. Meanwhile a food panel on Saturday will highlight two exciting new Cloughjordan-based EU Horizon projects: CODECS - a Horizon Europe Project with the Food Hub in Cloughjordan focused on digital farmers markets, and EU4ADVICE, which is all about building advisory services for local food economies.
It’s all happening at Global Green, from yoga moves first thing in the morning to rhythmic dance moves in the wee hours of the night, and with plenty of local, sustainable food and beverages to keep you fed and watered, come on down and visit this curious and creative festival-within-a-festival at the edge of the Electric Picnic. You might not want to leave!