by Rose Rushe
DO you know what a Salon Perdu Spiegeltent is? Make haste to Limerick’s first on June bank holiday weekend, complementing the carnival atmosphere of Culture and Chips festival.
City of Culture office tells us that “Salon Perdu is a European mirror tent (Spiegeltent) – the ultimate cabaret and music salon. Since the early 20th century, these handmade pavilions have been used as travelling dance halls, bars and entertainment rooms.
“There is only a handful of these unique and legendary ‘tents of mirrors’ left in the world today,” reports marketing manager Olivia O’Sullivan.
Salon perdu translates from the French as ‘the lost room’ so let the imagination run unfettered to this worldly, beautiful place. She speaks of a venue draped in burgundy velvets, rich with mirrors, a space enhanced by dance floor pillars, stained glass and that sin of sins, private seating booths.
Even the lighting is “sumptuous”. Naturally, here’s an internal bar to lace all happenings once you enter through a doorway curtained in rich fabrics.
The invitation is to what performance?
Nigel Dugdale of Limerick Chamber of Commerce takes up on what lies ahead for this “enchanting and romantic setting”.
The play list is fabulous, a mix of interactive theatre (‘Wine Goose Chase’), commedia del arte’s clowning with Simon Thompson and “the Jerry Fish Electric Sideshow, Culinary Carnival Banquet, Spiegelkidz Rhythm, World Chip Championships, Cabaret des Frites, Spiegeltent Breakfast Club, Jack L live, Salon du Chat and the Brad Pitt Light Orchestra live”.
Check out Limerick Post Entertainment pages next Thursday 22 for more of Nigel’s insight into our Culture & Chips Festival for which the wold’s first chip championship will be centrepoint.
Again, Limerick City of Culture is the mechanism by which such wonders emerge; Arthur’s Quay Park will be the June weekend site. Tickets from cultureandchips.com, facebook, twitter @cultureandchips
