Bounce is kicking off in The Playhouse in Derry in October

For their 13th annual celebration of disabled artists it will be touring in Derry, Limavady and Belfast, from Oct 4 – 6 2024.

The key point to bounce is having accessibility to disabled audiences at every venue including The Playhouse, The Nerve Centre, Void Arts Centre, The Centre for Contemporary Art and Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, whilst also being disabled-led.

This year one of the headline events sees Ruth McGinley and Alice McCullough collaborating for the first time at the Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre in Limavady. This special event of music, stories and poetry will be a magical night hosted by two artists at the height of their careers.

Bounce Arts Festival is bringing the classical, the comedic and the cultured together in a programme that is they describe as ‘truly exciting’, explained University of Atypical for Arts and Disability CEO Edel Murphy, who hails from County Donegal.

She said: “We recognise that there are often additional barriers for artists and audiences who are d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent.

"Accessibility and disability representation in the arts is integral to all we do and we hope that both our audiences and artists feel that this festival is genuinely for and by them.”

Noirin McKinney, Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland said: “We are committed to supporting the work of d/Deaf, neurodivergent and disabled artists, and game-changing funding from

"The National Lottery enables Bounce Arts Festival to offer an important platform to shine a light on work from these talented artists. I would encourage everyone to go along and enjoy this inspirational festival!”

The festival kicks off in Derry with a launch event at The Playhouse hosted by University of Atypical’s new Derry-based team member Aoife Boyle who is the Access and Inclusion Co-ordinator. This will be a chance to celebrate the opening of Bounce and meet some of the artists.

Directly after the event, there will be a Late Lunch Poetry show with Nina Quigley from Inishowen who will share poetry from her latest publication, Working for the Mafia: A Bipolar Experience. She will be joined by Elizabeth McGeown, a Pushcart-nominated poet and film artist.

Foyle Pride and Mel Bradley present ‘Not Your Pity Party’ in the Nerve Centre with disabled artists who also identify as LGBTQIA getting the spotlight.

On Saturday, Soso Ní Cheallaigh, a multidisciplinary maker from Derry, will present the innstallation De mo Neamhthoil at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Derry. This is an ongoing study on chaos and disorder of their rare nervous system conditions.

Bounce said that since their inception during the 2012 Olympic games that they have, “Established itself as a unique showcase for diversity and pride in Northern Ireland. It has become a meeting place, a platform for new inspiration, different understandings and changing perceptions of disability.”

You can find all the performances in Derry, Limavady and Belfast and to book tickets, go to www.universityofatypical.org/bounce