Cork Midsummer Festival 2015 – Details Announced

Two Weekends: 12th-14th & 19th-21st June 2015

Details of the Cork Midsummer Festival have just been announced, with the Lords of Strut the stars of the show, along with the Whalley Range All Stars and Circa. See the full details below and on their website here.

Highlights of the Festival

Opening the Festival this year are the inimitable Lords of Strut, winners of the 2013 Street Performance World Championships and famed for their ‘flash raves’. Two balls of energy, the Lords will host a participatory outdoor flash mob dance experience with other amateur and professional dance artists and local volunteers. They will celebrate the opening of the festival at 1pm on Friday, 12th June. For details on how to get involved in the rehearsal and take part in this one off flash street party, see www.corkmidsummer.com.

Festival favourite reoccurring this year is Picnic in the Park. Fitzgerald’s Park will provide the setting for this free day of fun for all the family, which will feature the Lords of Strut, local favourites Dowtcha and internationally renowned street theatre company Whalley Range All Stars, as well as many others.

A new addition to the family programme, coming from the Whalley Range All Stars, is the fantastic PIG. This unique pop up installation features a nine metre long sleeping pig, which will be in place on Emmet Place. An unexpected 10 minute piece of theatre takes place inside the belly of the giant pig, which 10 people at a time can view.

A special feature in this year’s programme is Our Table, an event which is set to transform Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street into a one-off outdoor dining room, whereby some of Cork’s best-loved eateries, including Les Gourmandises, Isaacs and The Rocket Man, are joining forces to create a three course banquet for 400 guests on Sunday, 14th June.

The world-renowned Beyond from Circa, an Australian circus act (described as ‘the rock-stars of the circus world’) will make its Irish debut at the festival, showcasing its sublimely surreal work that is delighting audiences everywhere. Blending circus acts with an enchanting spectacle of giant rabbit heads, Rubik’s cubes and blindfolds, Beyond is set to a mix of showtunes, ballads and electronica and will take place in the Everyman Theatre on 13th and 14th of June.

The closing ceremony for the festival will take place on June 21st, the summer solstice, in Elizabeth Fort and will showcase the skills of Bold as Brass. With over 100 brass, saxophone and percussion players, the outdoor performance will provide a fitting close to the magic and melodrama of the Cork Midsummer Festival.