A new national day of creativity for children and young people, Cruinniú na nÓg takes place on Saturday, 23rd June, 2018 across Donegal.
Now Donegal County Council is inviting proposals from those interested in organising an event for children and young people with an emphasis on doing, making or creating.
“This is a really exciting initiative,” says Eileen Burgess Divisional Manager of Cultural Services in Donegal County Council. “We have a small budget of about €10,000 to cover the cost of a variety of events and we are looking for artists, dancers, storytellers, musicians, re-enactors and all manner of experienced creative professionals, in any medium or art form to come forward with ideas for this year’s event.
“We would also like to hear from traditional skills practitioners or others with an expertise in landscape, flora and fauna, folklife, archaeological or built heritage, or any related field. Any practitioner, venue, organisation or community group may make a proposal”.
Cruinniú na nÓg aims to celebrate and encourage children and young people’s participation in culture and creativity through a mix of performances, demonstrations, coding, theatre, workshops, readings and screenings, special events and much more.
This variety of events for young people will be free and activity-based, with plenty of opportunities for young people to get doing, making and creating.
Building on the success of last year’s Cruinniú na Cásca, and a key initiative of the Creative Youth Plan to enable the creativity of every child and young person, every Local Authority will lead on creating a programme of events to showcase and share opportunities for children and young people.
Cruinniú na nÓg is an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and is presented in partnership with RTÉ and Local Authorities.
Events will take place at public libraries in Bundoran, Letterkenny, Milford, Carndonagh and Buncrana, na Rosann – Dungloe, the Regional Cultural Centre and the County Museum in Letterkenny. Other accessible venues may be proposed by the applicant. Events should be free of charge.
Donegal County Council will cover the costs of the selected events – including the costs of hiring artists or other culture/creativity sector practitioners and the costs of materials.
The total funding available to cover all events in Donegal is €10,000 so event proposers are encouraged to make realistic submissions in terms of scale and costs.
The aim is to provide variety in terms of cultural and creative experience, age groups, and locations, all of which will be considerations when deciding on applications.
Cruinniú na nÓg proposal forms can be downloaded from www.donegalcoco.ie.
Completed forms should be emailed to rmcmonagle@donegalcoco.ie or delivered to Roisín McMonagle, Donegal County Council, Rosemount Lane, Letterkenny F92 KP90 by 12 noon on 16 May 2018.
