OTHER ADVENTURES

EVIL DUCK STORY TRAIL | CHRIS JUDGE with kind permission from Gill Books

  • Twins Flo and Eddie are staying with their grandad while their mum travels for work. Nosing around in Grandad’s attic, they find a villainous-looking duck frozen inside a special, temperature-controlled chamber. Eddie accidentally presses the DEFROST button – and releases super-villain Evil Duck!

    It turns out that Grandad, AKA Fearless Frank, is a retired superhero duck who captured his nemesis Evil Duck many moons ago, saving society from his sinister schemes. But now Evil Duck has escaped, and Grandad is too old to recapture him alone, Eddie and Flo are going to have to help him track the super-villain down – before he gets back to his evil ways!


    Young festival-goers will have the opportunity to follow Flo, Eddie and Grandad on a hilarious journey through the castle gardens in our specially created Story Trail from the new graphic novel by Irish favourite author and illustrator, Chris Judge. 


    This Story Trail is generously supported by Waterford City and County Library Services.

All Day Event | Castle Gardens | Free | All Ages

RHYME & SIGN WITH CLEVER LITTLE HANDIES

  • Join us for a joyful and engaging Rhyme & Sign session with Clever Little Handies, an Irish Sign Language (ISL) storytime experience specially created for babies, toddlers and their grown-ups. Using familiar nursery rhymes, songs and simple stories, you’ll learn everyday signs to help communicate with your little one before they can talk.

    Led by Claire Glynn, an award-winning entrepreneur, and founder of Clever Little Handies, this gentle session introduces families to ISL in a fun and meaningful way. Claire’s passion for supporting early communication has led to the creation of three beautifully illustrated ISL baby sign board books, bringing inclusive language and early learning into homes across Ireland.

    Perfect for curious babies, chatty toddlers, and anyone interested in inclusive storytelling.

    This event is generously supported by Waterford City and County Library Services. 

11 a.m. and 1 p.m. | Lismore Library | Free
(Registration essential) | 0-5 years | 45 minutes

SOLAS NA BEALTAINE |
LANTERN PARADE

  • Solas na Bealtaine


    Now in its third year, the Festival Eve Lantern Parade will light up Millennium Park and Lismore Castle Gardens with a promenade of over 100 lanterns made by local school children.


    Launching the festival on May 2, Solas na Bealtaine is an interdisciplinary, multi-partner collaborative arts project culminating in light and AV spectacle throughout the gardens and on the walls of the castle.


    Our procession begins in Lismore’s Millennium Park and travels to the front lawn of Lismore Castle through the maze of gardens, guided by community volunteers, Lismore Men’s Shed and accompanied by an ensemble of carnival drummers.


    With the legacy of Street Art in Waterford City as inspiration, this parade and accompanying workshops are part of a new creative model of Street Art for West Waterford where each year, with new themes, participants and audiences, our aim is to grow the parade in, and with, the community.


    This project is supported by Dun Gharbhán le Gaeilge and is funded by Waterford City & County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland, championing creativity in every community.


    Children must be accompanied by adults at all times.


    Our theme 

    The 2025 project once again leans into the folklore of Bealtaine customs to serve as inspiration for new literature, as Gaeilge. Our theme this year centres around Bláthanna Bealtaine, from the old custom of leaving Bealtaine flowers on the door and threshold of homes to welcome Summer. Stories, created by the students of Scoil Gharbháin, were developed in writing workshops hosted by children’s author Muireann Ní Chíobháin. Literature created through this project will be recorded as audio by the students to generate a soundscape for the Lantern Parade finale. Text from each story will be transcribed through animation by creative technology collective Timpeall, to generate a digital arts installation for the Carlisle Tower at Lismore Castle. Four school lantern-making workshops with maker Caoimhe Dunn will take place at Cappoquin National School where over 100 willow lanterns will be made for the procession. Each lantern will be decorated with stories and images from the school workshops.

    Tickets are free to attend the event and will be available on Wednesday 16th April. Registration is essential. 

    Parade Details

    8.45pm Gather in Millennium Park

    9pm Parade begins 

    9.30pm AV / Sound Installation projected onto wall of Carlisle Tower

    9.45pm Event Finishes - Exit via Compost Gate

8.45pm Gather in Millennium Park

LISTEN! ÉIST! SLUCHAJCIE!
AUDIO STROY TRAIL

  • Love football or dancing? Want to know what a grumpy limpet sounds like? Need to know how to hug without arms? Come visit the Listen! Éist! Słuchajcie! Audio Story Trail in the forest from Friday 2nd until Friday 15th May. 

    2025 will see our second Audio Story Trail at Ballysaggartmore Towers, a 2km woodland loop outside of Lismore Town. This free audio trail is activated by QR codes positioned throughout the woodland loop. Stories this year are from Super Paua Stories, four seasons of multilingual audio stories written, designed and performed by artists living in Ireland. Languages include Irish, Polish, Arabic, Romanian, Romani and Portuguese.

    Featured authors include Alexandra Gogan, Cathal McCabe, Brigid O’Dea, Diane Crotty, Miriam Needham, Alison Martin and Berni Stack

    This project is hosted by Rose Producing and funded by Waterford City & Council and Arts Council of Ireland. 

    All day 2nd - 15th May | Ballysaggartmore Towers | Free | All ages | 2km

    Toffees de sufletul lu' Fiodor (Romanian/English/Romani, 15min) - Alexandra Gogan

    The Snowman (Polish/English, 13min) - Cathal McCabe

    Hug Me With Your Words (English- 7min)- Brigid O’Dea

    Gig Nua (Irish- 11min)- Diane Crotty

    Lara Ar Strae (Irish- 11min)- Miriam Needham

    Krys' Passport to Poland (Polish/English, 15min)- Alison Martin

    Todos A Bordo! (Brazilian Portuguese/English, 14mins)- Alison Martin

    Arwa and the Egotistical Limpet (Arabic/English/Irish, 15min)- Brigid O’Dea

    A Head Full of Colour (English- 14min)- Berni Stack

All day 2nd - 15th May | Ballysaggartmore Towers | Free | All ages | 2km

Festival Exhibition

‘Children's Rights in Imaginary Spaces’

Friday 2nd May - Friday 16th May 2025 The Vault Café

Fatti Burke, Peter Donnelly, Roisin Hahessy, Chris Haughton, Chris Judge, Mary Murphy, Niamh Sharkey

Viewpoints explores the potent realm of children's literature as a place for young people to develop and understand their rights. The Glucksman commissioned seven Irish picture book authors to respond to different themes within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Artists Fatti Burke, Peter Donnelly, Chris Judge, Róisín Hahessy, Chris Haughton, Mary Murphy and Niamh Sharkey created new illustrations which were originally installed in our gallery spaces as large-scale mural paintings.

Supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, the touring exhibition Viewpoints enables us to continue to share the potent realm of the arts as a place for young people to develop and understand their rights. The exhibition has been developed in partnership with UCC School of Law to consider the ways in which culture unleashes not just our imagination, but a critical understanding of self and the world.

A selection of the exhibition will be available to visit at The Vault Café from Friday 2nd May - Friday 16th May 2025. On festival weekend, additional work from the exhibition will form an illustration trail at all Towers and Tales venues in Lismore town and at Lismore Castle.