Cork Midsummer Festival has launched its full programme of events for 2015, with some 43 events and 95 performances set to enchant and enthral audiences in 25 venues across a six-day period in June under the new tagline ‘Await the Arts Explosion’.This year, the festival has undergone an exciting transformation, taking place across two weekends in June: the 12^th-14^th and 19^th-21^st, inviting people from all over the country to become immersed in the magic of Midsummer.

For 2015 the festival is expected to attract crowds of up to 40,000 to its line-up of events. A launch event, which takes place in the Bodega, Cork, this evening will reveal what the summer celebration has in store for Cork this year.

Events for all

Cork Midsummer Festival will feature artists from the fields of music, dance, circus, theatre, opera and visual art as well as an extensive family programme.

Speaking about the launch, Kath Gorman, Curator of the Cork Midsummer Festival said: “This year, Cork Midsummer Festival has a great outdoors and free events programme, with performances in both familiar and unusual locations, with something to suit every creative taste and budget. We are presenting the highest quality acts from here in Cork, elsewhere in Ireland and from overseas. We hope the people of Cork and beyond will embrace the madness, the intrigue, and the wall to wall energy, creativity and fun that awaits them.”

Highlights of the Festival

Opening the Festival this year are the inimitable Lords of Strut, winners of the 2013 Street Performance World Championships and famed for their ‘flash raves’. Two balls of energy, the Lords will host a participatory outdoor flash mob dance experience with other amateur and professional dance artists and local volunteers. They will celebrate the opening of the festival at 1pm on Friday, 12^th June. For details on how to get involved in the rehearsal and take part in this one off flash street party, see www.corkmidsummer.com.

Festival favourite reoccurring this year is Picnic in the Park. Fitzgerald’s Park will provide the setting for this free day of fun for all the family, which will feature the Lords of Strut, local favourites Dowtcha and internationally renowned street theatre company Whalley Range All Stars, as well as many others.

A new addition to the family programme, coming from the Whalley Range All Stars, is the fantastic PIG. This unique pop up installation features a nine metre long sleeping pig, which will be in place on Emmet Place. An unexpected 10 minute piece of theatre takes place inside the belly of the giant pig, which 10 people at a time can view.

A special feature in this year’s programme is Our Table, an event which is set to transform Cork’s Oliver Plunkett Street into a one-off outdoor dining room, whereby some of Cork’s best-loved eateries, including Les Gourmandises, Isaacs and The Rocket Man, are joining forces to create a three course banquet for 400 guests on Sunday, 14^th June.

The world-renowned Beyond from Circa, an Australian circus act (described as ‘the rock-stars of the circus world’) will make its Irish debut at the festival, showcasing its sublimely surreal work that is delighting audiences everywhere. Blending circus acts with an enchanting spectacle of giant rabbit heads, Rubik’s cubes and blindfolds, Beyond is set to a mix of showtunes, ballads and electronica and will take place in the Everyman Theatre on 13^th and 14^th of June.

The closing ceremony for the festival will take place on June 21^st, the summer solstice, in Elizabeth Fort and will showcase the skills of Bold as Brass. With over 100 brass, saxophone and percussion players, the outdoor performance will provide a fitting close to the magic and melodrama of the Cork Midsummer Festival.

Cork Midsummer Festival is proudly supported by the Arts Council, Cork City Council and Fáilte Ireland and by media partners 96FM, the Irish Examiner and RTÉ Supporting the Arts.

To view the full programme please visit: http://www.corkmidsummer.com/ or follow us on Facebook: Cork Midsummer Festival or on Twitter: @CorkMidsummer, using the hashtag #CorkArtsExplosion.