Music and street art take centre stage on St Patrick’s Day 2021 in Derry

For a second year much of the activity will take place virtually although the physical installations will provide a splash of colour and a lift for people as the Spring Carnival, parade and traditional St Patrick’s Day celebrations have once again had to be called off this year.

Over the weekend, the city centre has been re-imagined with creative installations and pop up displays adorning several areas including Shipquay Street and the Diamond areas of the city.

Shipquay Street has been turned into a rainbow of colour with every possible space and street furniture utilised, including trees, railings and lampposts.

You can enjoy the installations any time between now and March 28.

Seachtain na Gaeilge 2021

As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2021 (Irish Language Week)numerous events are taking place virtually tomorrow, including conversations on the Irish Language in Derry and a one day Irish course. For more info see: www.derrystrabane.com/irishlanguageweek

Music Session

Meanwhile tomorrow afternoon from 12pm to 3pm, a host of local musical talent in the form of students from North West Regional College’s School of Performing Arts will put together two traditional Irish music sessions in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. Keep an eye out on Council’s Facebook page and YouTube channel for links.

The programme will include performances from: Diplomats: ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ by Thin Lizzy; Juvy: ‘Dreaming my Dreams’ by The Cranberries; Erin O’Brien & Friends: ‘She Moved Through the Fair/Out On The Ocean’ ; Anthony Totten (MAPA Alumni): Roux Recordings Showcase (Northern Ireland-based Traditional Irish Music Record Label); Mango: ‘I Love You, Sadie’ by Wyvern Lingo; Townhouse: ‘Undercover Martyn’ by Two Door Cinema Club; Siobhan MacPartland: ‘The Parting Glass’; Marc Geagan and Matthew McCracken (MAPA Lecturers): ‘Tabhair Dom do Laimh’; Holloway: ‘Someone New’ by Hozier; Juno Hasson: ‘Falling Slowly’ by Glen Hansard; Stereo HQ: ‘Sally McLennan’ by The Pogues; Juno Hasson, Aimee Tourish, Megan Watton, Shania Burn, Neasa Brady, Ciara Doherty, Sara Stewart, Maya Paterson: ‘Amazing Grace’.

Public Art

The Council is also working with local artists and galleries to bring visual art exhibitions outdoors and onto the streets,:

Locky Morris – Void Gallery now until March

Billboard installations across the city, featuring images of the artist’s observations of the incidental, the mundane in our surroundings. The billboard positioned at the crossroads of Abercorn Road and Bishop’s Street is titled No.8 and on Strand Road the piece is titled Outside Job.

This is the first in a series of artworks that the Void Gallery plans to exhibit through this medium, entitled the Billboard Project.

Inside Out - The People’s Art Project – Delivered by UV Arts CIC in partnership with Council from today until July.

Local Artist Karl Porter is involved in the INSIDE OUT project has travelled from Ecuador to Nepal, from Mexico to Palestine, inspiring group actions on varied themes such as hope, diversity, gender-based violence, climate change and in March the project will be delivered in four sites across Derry and Strabane.

“The project is about celebrating our local community and mostly those who make the community what it is, “explains Karl, “this is an opportunity to build cohesion.”

Inside Out – Steer into the Skid – Delivered by Janie Doherty and CCA in partnership with Council. March 20 – April 10 in the windows of CCA, Artillery Street.

Inside Out – Steer into the Skid delivered by Janie Doherty in collaboration with Locky Morris.

It plays with the relationship between the rural landscape and how we relate to and contrast our surroundings as well as embody our own narratives that connect to a specific place.

People can safely view from the outside looking in.