ALMOST 2,000 people have been recruited and resourced in just eight weeks for Limerick City of Culture 2014’s New Year‘s Eve extravaganza.
Details of the pageant and City of Culture ‘NYE Sky’ have been unveiled with a promise of being “the most exciting and exuberant interactive family event” Limerick has ever seen.
The spectacular end-of-year bash promises to transport the streets of Limerick into a wonderful fairyland full of fantastical characters, glowing floats and magical music, with both skies and terra firma being brought to life.
According to a press statement this week, the difficult task of creating this world-class show has been achieved in an “impossibly tight timeframe”. Involved in putting together this breathtaking project were: producer Joe Clarke, creative director Paul Boland, University Concert Hall, LITMT, Lime Tree Theatre, Murt Whelan Sound, Frontline Theatre School, Spotlight Stage School, Expressive Arts, Limerick Youth Theatre, Limerick Youth Choir, Cantet, Limerick City Hall, Peter Dee’s Academy of Music, Limerick Gospel Choir, Honest Arts, Music Generation, The Learning Hub, and many more on third level co-operative education placement.
City of Culture chief executive Patricia Ryan is now predicting “the biggest and most magnificent occasion that Limerick has ever seen” on December 31.
“The City will be illuminated like never before, breathing new life into every nook and cranny. It will be the celebration of all celebrations to kick off Limerick as the National City of Culture 2014,” she said.
“The positives the City of Culture will bring to Limerick with this event alone are extremely substantial. It’s hugely encouraging to see 900 volunteers getting involved together with over 700 kids and teenagers across 20 Limerick schools working together to make this wonderful world class event happen,” she added.
From 6:30pm on New Year’s Eve, a procession will be led by the multi-award winning street theatre company Bui Bolg through the fully pedestrianised streets of Limerick, along the banks of the River Shannon to the Medieval Quarter.
Son et Lumiere, will turn the city and its night skies into a live storybook using cutting edge digital mapping and special lighting effects which will be projected onto Limerick’s historic buildings. Live narration and accompanying specially composed music will bring ‘The Story of the Boy who Looked for the Trout’, written by local playwright Mike Finn, to life.
There is an open call for children and adults in Limerick to get involved in the City of Culture NYE. For more information contact www.cityofculturenye.ie.
