Féile na gCloigíní Gorma is a week-long community festival based in the Upper Springfield area of West Belfast. The festival is a people’s celebration of community, health and the local environment. Each year from the month of May the field above the famous BlackMountain ‘Hatchet Field’ blooms and chimes with the glorious sight of a sea of indigenous wild ‘Blue Bells’.
For generations of local people from the Upper Springfield this has effectively signalled the beginning of summer, and the hope and joy this means for local children and families.
A group of local community activists are using the symbol of the blooming ‘Blue Bells’ to remind local people of the joys of life, their natural environment and the importance of health and community solidarity!
The week-long series of events is entering its second year (last year over 800 local people att3ended the events) and will last from the Saturday the 13th May until Sunday the 20th May and will include: walks, talks, sports, cycling, fishing and more. The programme will kick off by local Gaels competing in a 7 a side Gaelic football tournament and will close a week later with the return of the famous Caulfield’s to Black Mountain run and walk!
In between this there will be free events on every day,with the highlight this year being, the festivals first ever music ‘gig’, which sees arguably Irelands most talented flautist Alan Docherty perform his unique brand of Irish Traditional music alongside Turf Lodge’s very own Brendan ‘Nipper’ Quinn and the brilliant Robbie Walsh.
Féile na gCloigíni Gorma intends to challenge, inspire and involve as many local people as possible in order to foster a culture of self-help, solidarity and human collaboration. We want to create spaces for local people to engage with and reflect on their health, environment and the world around us while enjoying the company of others.
The modern world has become characterised by competition, individualism, inequality, crass materialism and mental ill-health and we wish to challenge this by providing people with a safe platform to explore our historical and spiritual connections with our environment and community as well as our inherent humanity. So come along to our Black Panther inspired breakfast clubs, complete a mindful walk through the Falls park, and run over the Black Mountain. Healthy hearts create healthy minds and hope springs eternal when we recognise our human potential as agents for social change. The organisers of this festival believe that within the Upper Springfield local people hold the key to building another world and we are building it now!
See full programme calendar of events for details:
Féile na gCloigíní Gorma 2018 – FULL PROGRAMME
