Mental health is everyone’s business. This is the main motto of the West Cork Feel Good Festival that runs throughout the month of October across West Cork. It started on a modest scale in 2012 and continues to grow year on year. Another theme is ‘Connection’ and that is certainly true of the festival itself. Adrigole, Ballydehob, Ballineen/Enniskeane, Bandon, Bantry, Bere Island, Cape Clear, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Glengariff, Kealkill, Leap, Rosscarbery, Schull, Sherkin Island, Skibbereen, Union Hall are among the places where (community) events, workshops, talks and demonstrations are taking place. Often around ‘central hubs’.
Levis’ Cornerhouse in Ballydehob has been involved with the Feel Good Festival for quite some time. This year, too, there will be (ticketed) concerts on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 and a (free) autumnal soup cooked by Rob Krawczyk of the famous Chestnut restaurant. Then a film screening and open music session on the Sunday. Not to mention an art exhibition, interviews and conversations, a papier-mâché workshop, and a singing workshop. Elsewhere in the tiny village, a music session with songs and poems ‘as Gaeilge’ takes place at the Working Artist Studios on October 5.
Over in Dunmanway, the first weekend of the festival is called Together at the (Atkins) Hall. It starts on Friday, October 4 with an ‘Open Night’ that showcases some of the mental health supports that are available to the public. The weekend is densely packed with “music, fun and community”: Most notably, the concerts headlined by Ger Wolfe and John Spillane. As the latter says: “I have seen over the years that music and the arts can be of real benefit to people who may be struggling with mental health difficulties. Just look at how important music was during Covid in helping lift us out of the darkness.” To quote Julie O Neill, Head of Mental Health Services at HSE Cork Kerry Community Healthcare: “An event such as ‘Together at the Hall’ provides the people of West Cork and further afield the opportunity to connect with one another and enjoy some of the wonderful events and engaging workshops on offer. It allows us to showcase the mental health supports available, whilst opening up conversations on the importance of mental and physical wellbeing”. The other activities at Atkins Hall and across Dunmanway during the Festival month are also bound to ratchet up the feel good factor. Harmony singing, social dancing, film screening, board games, chair yoga, storytelling, a memory café, a carers’ coffee morning. All events are free.
Bantry will be another hive of activity. The joyous event, ‘Live Life and Sing’ (A Gathering of Community Choirs) on Saturday, October 12 almost seems like a one-day festival. It is organised by the Bantry Community Choir, which has been collaborating with the West Cork Feel Good Festival since 2013. There will be a showcase of numerous West Cork community choirs in the Garnish Suite of the Maritime Hotel (10am-4pm), An Afternoon Concert: ‘Stories in Song’ (2-3:30pm), which culminates in a big sing-along, as well as An Early Evening Concert (4:30-6:30pm) followed by A Finale Concert (7:30-10pm) in the hotel’s Windward Suite. No fewer than six singing workshops will cater to people of different ages and interests in various locations.
The singing spectacular is not the only show in Bantry Town. The Bridge Street Community Café, “a safe welcoming space which promotes positive mental health” is also offering a smorgasbord of fascinating activities. Drawing, walking, breathing, singing, community conga in the square, gardening tips and tricks, art therapy, a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, forest bathing in Glengarriff…
Similar “happenings” are being offered in the 15 other towns and villages listed above. What links most of them is that they are experiential. Zumba, meditation, creative writing, community art exhibitions, and even the concerts by professional musicians who engage the audience so it allows itself to be “transported” by the sounds being played and the energy and emotions of the players. And what about the Party Piece Open Music Sessions that pop up all over the place? They are described as “relaxed participatory music sessions for everyone, regardless of musical experience… Play the music that‘s close to your heart. It is about the simple joy of sharing songs and tunes with each other. The aim is to grow a shared repertoire of pieces that are easy to join in with and that have a wide appeal.”
For detailed information about the full programme, visit: www.musicalive.ie/west-cork-feel-good-festival or get your printed brochure at Cork County libraries.
