From a giant mural on Clifden Town Hall and willow sculptures in a historic graveyard to a message sent towards the stars, the 49th Clifden Arts Festival is preparing to transform Clifden and Connemara into a vibrant stage for 11 extraordinary days of art, music, literature and ideas.
Running from 17–27 September, this year’s festival is themed OPEN – A Festival of Welcome, Encounter and Possibility, a fitting celebration of the connections that have long defined one of Ireland’s best-loved community arts festivals.
The streets, buildings and landscapes of Clifden will once again become part of the programme. Acclaimed mural artist James Kirwan will create a large-scale Welcome mural on Clifden Town Hall from 16–19 September, with visitors able to watch the artwork take shape over several days.
At St Mary’s Church and Graveyard, environmental sculptor Phil McSweeney will weave willow sculptures on site on 18 and 19 September, while members of the public can join him to create their own willow fish. Meanwhile, artist and writer Alan Clarke will create a clay portrait sculpture live at Clifden Studio in the Station House from 23–26 September.
The theme of welcome is explored in more intimate ways through Jennie Moran’s Ghostis at The Booley at Fernwood, an exploration of hospitality, ritual and communal connection. Moran will also lead a Creative Hospitality workshop, inviting participants to consider how creative spaces can encourage strangers to meet and connect.
Perhaps the most intriguing journey of all, however, will take audiences beyond Connemara and into outer space.
On Thursday, 24 September at 4pm, the Station House Theatre will host the world premiere of The Pale Blue Dot: The Voyager Golden Record — Reimagined for Our Time. Presented by Galway-based Elevation Ensemble, the multimedia performance takes inspiration from NASA’s Voyager Golden Record, launched in 1977 carrying music, sounds and greetings from Earth as humanity’s message to the cosmos.
Almost 50 years later, the work asks a provocative question: if we were sending a message from Earth into the universe today, what would we choose to say about ourselves?
Newly commissioned music by Irish composers Linda Buckley and Jonathan Nangle combines with musical traditions from around the world, electronics and live visuals by artist Manuela Corbari. The story and science of the Voyager mission will be brought to life by Brendan Owens, Astronomer Emeritus of the Royal Observatory of Greenwich.
Back on Earth, the festival’s popular Arts Festival Bus Tours will again take audiences behind the scenes, visiting private collections, artists’ studios and unusual cultural locations throughout Connemara. New destinations include Roundstone Ceramics and Paddy O’Malley’s studio, alongside Ballynahinch Castle, Renvyle House, Interface, ATU Letterfrack and Connemara Community Radio.
There are also plenty of major names on this year’s programme. The Stunning headline the music line-up, joined by Eddi Reader, The Alan Kelly Gang, Lúnasa, Niall Breslin & The Polaris Quartet, Tom Dunne, Fiachna Ó Braonáin and Alan Connor.
Film highlights include John Behan: Odyssey, followed by a Q&A with the celebrated sculptor and director Donald Taylor Black, while the visual arts programme features work by Lynda Bremner, Phil McSweeney, the AKIN Artist Collective, Galway ceramic artists and Ukrainian artists exploring themes of memory, displacement and belonging.
As Clifden Arts Festival looks ahead to its landmark 50th anniversary in 2027, this year’s OPEN theme captures its enduring spirit: curiosity, generosity, discovery and connection.
Festival Director Desmond Lally said the theme felt particularly appropriate as the festival approaches its half-century milestone, describing this year’s programme as one filled with “welcome, curiosity and connection” and a strong sense of discovery.
Founded in 1977, Clifden Arts Festival remains one of Ireland’s longest-running community arts festivals — and, this September, its doors are once again wide open.
