Culture Night offering comes to Donegal Town

A new initiative for this year’s Culture Night on Friday, September 18, has seen performers, venues, and organisers in Donegal Town come together to collaborate on the promotion and coordination of the event locally.

As part of this effort, they have organised a Culture Night Launch that will kick off with a free themed tour led by Niamh Coughlan of Donegal Town Walking Tours, leaving the Abbey Hotel lobby at 5 pm.

The tour will alight back at the Abbey at 5:45 pm for an address by Mayor Anna Gallagher and a brief performance by the Bluestack Chorale to help get revellers in the mood to continue their Culture Night journey.

The hotel lobby will host a Culture Night Information Hub until 8 pm, providing information and guidance on the local events schedule to help attendees navigate and plan their evening.

A representative of the local independent organisers’ network, Culture Donegal Town, commented “by working together on promotion and organising this launch and Information Hub we hope to make the event more visible and navigable for locals, and we see it as a step towards putting the town on the Culture Night map in the hope that it can grow to become one of the highlights of our annual calendar.

“In our view, Donegal Town is a perfect Culture Night locale – compact, attractive, rich in cultural history, and with a wealth of talent and magnificent venues to explore. This year’s programme has some wonderful events within walking distance of each other, and we want to let people know that they can feel free to dip in and out to sample a little bit of everything. While some events require booking in advance, venues will make accommodations for last-minute arrivals where possible, and overall we organisers encourage attendees to soak up the atmosphere across town on the night.”

After the launch, there will be plenty to see and do in the area. Folk duo Without Willow will be performing an intimate acoustic set at Donegal Railway Heritage Museum at 6 pm; 7 pm sees the kick-off of ‘When Three Choirs Meet’ in the Presbyterian Church, music from Goladoo Ensemble in Donegal Castle, and a night of music, dancing and more in Gaelscoil na gCeithre Máistrí; and at 7:30pm the Railway Museum begins its second event, an Evening of Readings with Tír Conaill Writing Group.