Arts festivals are a hugely important part of the arts infrastructure in Wicklow. Covid-19 has created a set of circumstances and conditions which have been extremely challenging for festivals to work within. Despite the ongoing dynamic situation, we know that there was an impelling desire to make work happen in 2021.

Wicklow County Council Arts Office, funded through the Creative Ireland Programme, wanted to support arts festival organizers in the county to find a way to negotiate and manage change, adapt their programme as required, and to sustain their relationships with artists and audiences.

Arts Leaders Associates provided festival venue support for this initiative as well as designing and setting up an online Arts Newsletter and a new online Festivals Calendar that provides updated information on Wicklow's festivals which are supported through funding from the Arts Office, thus encouraging the public to support the many festivals that contribute so much to the cultural offerings of our county.

In the first phase of this initiative, workshops were conducted with Janice McAdam with two different groupings of arts festivals, artform focused festivals and more community-based arts festivals, strengthening Wicklow County Council's understanding of the challenges arts festivals are facing.

Please note that the details of events listed above are provided by the relevant Local Authorities.