THE endeavours and creations of artistic talents in Limerick will be recognised this weekend at Craic-A-Palooza, a twilight celebration in aid of the Brothers of Charity’s Canadh music engagement programme.
The event is organised by Limerick-based acoustic band Gray’s Burden, who will be among several top music acts performing at The Office Bar on Saturday June 28. Other acts include Lynshig, Maeve O’Donovan and Stephen O’Dwyer.
In addition to the musical performances, there will be a ‘car cram’ between two Limerick rugby clubs where both teams will compete to fit as many members of their packs into a single car. Also, students from Limerick School of Arts and Design (LSAD) will showcase their artistic gifts with an exhibition and a sale of work.
Gray’s Burden lead singer Stephen Buggy explained how the festival has grown since its inception in 2011, when it began as a fundraising gig in support of the band’s guitarist Darren O’Halloran, who at the time was participating in a marathon in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.
Stephen said: “We decided to hold a big gig in one of the bars in Adare and it was such a success that we thought ‘let’s see if we can get something like this going every year’.
“We sat down and got lots of different ideas to make the event stand out . We realised that there wasn’t really anything there at the time for independent, unsigned bands and the same thing goes for local artists. There didn’t seem to be a whole pile that they could get involved with and show their stuff off. The majority of the musicians and artists that are in the area wouldn’t necessarily be full-time and might not have the wherewithal to get themselves actively involved in the music or arts circle.
“Over the last few years it has grown exponentially and there’s always amazing bands who fall by the wayside because they haven’t been involved in these different circles for long enough. We thought this would be a great way of getting local talent and putting it on show for a night. It’s nothing too flashy.
“The whole event is self-funded and fortunately last year was such a success because it was the first time that we turned it into a full day-long event. After last year we said we’d have to do it again this year.”
Stephen is also involved in the Canadh music engagement programme, which aims to offer music to people through a variety of methods. He said: “The programme itself isn’t music heavy; it’s taking some elements of music and putting them into a much simpler context, offering music at different levels to service users and giving them the choice to interact with it as they like.
“All of the research into music therapy shows that it’s one of the few things that stimulates both sides of the brain. It’s something that they know can help bring about elements of rehabilitation, particularly in people who have brain injuries.
“If we take all the different ways in which we listen to music and enjoy music, they’re not necessarily ways that are very obvious and they’re not always means that people with intellectual disabilities can enjoy or experience. The programme offers music to service users on a bunch of different levels.
“Some service users are more capable and want to learn an instrument, so that are elements of the programme where they learn that instrument. For some non-verbal service users, there are elements of it that are much more holistic, so they can simply listen to a piece of music that they like.”
Craic-A-Palooza will begin at 5pm on Saturday in The Office Bar on Carr Street. Throughout the night, students from LSAD will hold an exhibition and sale of work in the courtyard of the bar, with the music scheduled to begin at 7pm when Stephen O’Dwyer takes to the stage. Maeve O’Donovan will perform at approximately 8pm, followed by Lynshig at 9pm.
The much-awaited Car Cram will take place around 10pm, with event organisers Gray’s Burden due on stage at 11:30pm and playing out the night for an evening that is certain to live up to its billing as ‘Craic-A-Palooza’ – and all in the name of charity.
