Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, has today announced details of Cruinniú na nÓg 2022, a day of free creative activity for young people. 

The only event of its kind in the world, Cruinniú na nÓg 2022 is a collaboration between the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Creative Ireland Programme, local authorities and RTÉ.

At the launch of Cruinniú na nÓg 2022 at Killruddery House and Gardens in County Wicklow, Minister Martin said: 

 “Since 2018, Cruinniú na nÓg has become a key date in Ireland’s cultural calendar. It has provided wonderful opportunities for Ireland’s 1.2 million children and young people to try something new like circus skills, animation, perform at live music gigs, explore contemporary dance, showcase new work through youth theatre and so much more. All events are free.

This year we are delighted that most of the events will be live and in person. Alongside the events planned by our strategic partners – Dance Ireland, Garageland, Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS), Nenagh Children’s Film Festival, Youth Theatre Ireland and the Historic Houses of Ireland – we have more than 450 events programmed by local authorities in venues around the country. We are so thrilled that the restrictions of the last two years are behind us and that this year everyone can join together to be creative, express themselves and have fun.”

Going live Saturday 11th June 2022

The Creative Ireland Programme and its strategic partners have developed a number of creative projects, all planned to go live on Saturday 11th June 2022.

 This exciting spread of events include:

Pop-Up Dance is a Dance Ireland project which aims to connect with young people who want to dance. There will be 12 pop-up performances around the country, developed by local youth dance companies to reflect their own communities and experiences.

Garageland is back! And this year they are going live with concerts in Dublin, Meath, Donegal, Waterford, Tipperary, Kerry, Wicklow, Cavan and Monaghan. Running alongside these live concerts will be Galaxyz, a dedicated online TV channel which will live stream the concerts, screen pre-recorded performances and host industry chats.

Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS) will host open days for young people who want to try their hand at circus skills and street spectacle at their dedicated venues in Cloughjordan, Cork, Dublin and Galway. For those that can’t be there on the day, there will be a full range of online tutorials available and 5,000 juggling balls will be given away so that young people can develop their circus skills at home.

Historic Houses of Ireland will bring the excitement of Cruinniu na nÓg 2022 to four of their gorgeous properties. Activities will include aerial acrobatics at Killruddery House and Gardens in Wicklow and a forest school at Kilmokea House in Wexford. Birr Castle will focus on astronomy and biodiversity and Enniscoe in Mayo will have a full programme of events in their historic gardens.

Nenagh Children’s Film Festival: This year the festival will run June 10th – June 12th with Crúinniu na nÓg at the heart of it. In an exciting development, the festival will collaborate with Foróige, Digital Animation Production TUS and the National Talent Academy for Animation to encourage young people to create and participate. Highlights will include screenings of a commissioned animation dedicated to young audiences and 10 film shorts created in participating schools.

Youth Theatre Ireland will host introductory theatre workshops throughout the country.

This is Art 2022: Creative Ireland and RTÉ’s wonderful art competition for young people has returned, and the winning entries will be announced on 11th June 2022. The deadline for entries is 13th May 2022

TG4 with support from the Gaeltacht division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, will produce Cruthaím 33 which will champion the talents of 33 children and young people from every county in the country as well as a representative of our young diaspora. Also included in the programme will be four films made by transition year students from Gaelscoileanna around the country.

Cruinniú na nÓg 2022 Ambassadors

This year, Creative Ireland has asked six wonderful young people to represent Cruinniú na nÓg 2022 and inspire others with their fantastic creative energy and skills.

Faith Leigh Bomah – from Letterkenny boasts creativity by the bucket-load! This talented ten-year-old is never happier than when she’s immersed in two of her favourite creative hobbies: fashion design and upcycling.

The Barceló Brothers – Part of a music-making Galway family, multi-instrumentalist gaeilgeoirí Séamus (15) and Míchéal (12) are born entertainers! Despite their youth, the pair are seasoned pros having performed with their dad Miquel at home and abroad since they were very young.

Millie Sheppard (12) and Anouk Baldin-Merer (14) have been members of the Cloughjordan Circus Club since they were just eight years old where they have learned everything from juggling to unicycling, rola bola to acro dance.

Luke Melvin (17) is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of Insubs. Luke first started playing five years ago after saving his confirmation money to buy an electric guitar and starting some lessons. “It feels very natural to me when I play guitar, it has become like second nature.”