This Is How To Celebrate Culture
Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir in Ireland is a fully funded nationwide celebration of culture, creativity and the Arts.
This time last year we arrived in Ireland. We had sold our house in the UK, put everything in storage apart from two small suitcases and the dog’s bed which we carefully manipulated into the very small boot of our car for the journey over the water. We spent a couple of months house hunting before finding our current home.
This week I was reminded of the anniversary because when we got here 12 months ago the country was preparing for Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir 2023 and, right now Ireland is getting ready for the 2024 edition.
Culture Night is a national celebration of all the culture found on the island of Ireland. The annual event takes place on the second last Friday of September and is funded and organised by the Irish Arts Council, local authorities and national broadcaster RTE. It is described by the organisers as:
“a national moment, celebrating culture, creativity and the arts and seeks to actively promote the belief that this rich and varied culture is alive, treasured and nurtured in people’s lives, today and every day”
Culture Night began in Dublin in 2006 as a one night event organised by the Temple Bar Cultural Trust / Dublin City Council, Culture Night. It was innovative in ambition but relatively modest in scale with just 40 venues opening free and late in the evening in Dublin’s Temple Bar. In 2007 Culture Night expanded citywide more than doubling in size with 87 cultural institutions participating. In 2008 Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford became part of Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir offering and by 2009 the number of participating cities numbered ten expanding to include Tralee, Roscommon, Mayo, Wexford, Sligo and Belfast. In 2010 the number of participating cities rose to 20 with Derry becoming the second city North of the border to join the event after Belfast. By 2017 Culture Night was a truly national and international celebration with Irish cultural events also presented in the UK, France and the US.
Last year the one night event featured over 1700 cultural events across Ireland which were enjoyed by 1.2million people - which is a quarter of the population. Similar levels of engagement in the UK would mean 15 million people participating on one night and in the US there would be over 86 million people taking part.
The culture on display ranges from an independence inspired art exhibition created by young people in Bantry to a drag cabaret in Dublin to the incredible Jessie Buckley singing Sinead O’ Connor’s Troy with the RTE Orchestra in Donegal and broadcast to the nation. Culture Night is an incredibly deep and wide cultural event with mass support.
The 2024 edition is shaping up to be as broad, engaging and huge. And while there is lots of activity in the capital, Dublin is only one place where culture takes centre stage. Nearly every town and village in the country is involved in the celebration with every culture night event free to enjoy.
It is important to remember that Ireland takes arts funding seriously from drama to libraries. The Irish Arts Council spends around €130m a year which is equivalent to €25 per person which compares with Arts Council England’s paltry €8.20 per person. Investing in the arts and culture at this level not only makes the country a nicer place to live but it also drives economic activity as people head out at a time of year when the nights are closing in. More importantly, Culture Night unites a whole country around its art, creativity and culture truly putting it at the heart of conversations - even if those consist of decisions about what friends will be doing on Friday night.
In my rural area there is dance, music, poetry, theatre and more. I am going to watch a Noel Coward play performed in an Irish pub with a three person cast - Brief Encounter with a Guinness will be a novel experience!
Culture Night/ Oíche Chultúir is an example to the world of how public funding for the arts should be used and if you are in Ireland for 20th September then check out the link below and go enjoy an incredible experience - Free Of Charge.
The JasonWard Creative Substack is for readers like you. I really appreciate your time spent here and invite you to support my work by taking out a subscription. A paid subscription gives you access to exclusive content plus the entire archive of over 100 articles, short stories, reviews, interviews, podcasts and playlists.
It's always good to learn about such cultural activities. I'd never heard of Culture Night until now. Thanks for sharing.