Faoin Tuath is a festival for queer people to connect beyond the city, featuring practical skill-sharing workshops, talks, live music performances, DJs, traditional music sessions, film screenings, shared meals, and much more.
With Faoin Tuath we wanted to create something that we would love to go - a festival where people can come together to learn practical skills and spend time in nature but also get to socialise with other queer people, see amazing live musicians and performances in rural Ireland - where we live! It’s rare that you get an opportunity to do all those things together, let alone in the countryside.
LINE-UP
Skill-sharing workshops including:
Build a Bat Box – Learn to create safe space for bats - noted pollinators, seed dispersers and homosexuals - including basic carpentry skills and installation tips with Steve Finnerty and Denise Conroy of Sustainable Living Solutions.
Wild Queer Workshop with Lucy O’Hagan – Explore the queerness in nature all around us in all its diverse, delicious & vibrant beauty through plant identification, wildlife tracking and ancestral crafting with Lucy O'Hagan of Wild Awake.
Growing, Seeds, and Planting – Join Dan O'Connor for a whirlwind tour of all things growing
Queer Your Guts and Your Brew – Join llewyn máire as they guide you through the process of gathering wild yeasts, learn about fermented sodas, shrubs, tibicos, and other witchy brews, explore the fundamentals of flavour mixing, incorporate plant medicine, make kin and enjoy a queer mocktail made just for Faoin Tuath.
Live music, performances and events including:
Branwen Kavanagh – Branwen is a singer, musician, composer, performance artist and puppeteer from Clare who is inspired by folklore, dada, poetry and theatre.
Dylan Kerr – Is an Irish multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. Their work takes the form of durational, endurance-based performance, drawing on the embodied languages of ritual, protest and worship.
7of9 – Osaro and Lizzie aka 7of9 are an infusion of industrial pop with sulphuric-gore vocals seeping into your wanting earlobes.
Amir Abualrob – is a Palestinian Theatre Maker, facilitator and performer based in Dublin and previous resident artist at Common Knowledge. Their work focuses on modern stories of connections, community and the power of art as resistance
Queer Trad Sessions – Open session on Friday night with traditional tunes songs and ballads hosted by the Queer Sheds crew with Aoife Hammond and Steve Finnerty
More to be announced
Tickets
Full weekend tickets €130 - including access to all events, performances and a selection of workshops, dinner on Friday evening, breakfast lunch and dinner on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. Limited access tickets are available without charge - contact hello@queersheds.org.
Day-by-day tickets
Friday Night 7-11pm (€20) - includes Dinner, Short Film Screening and Queer Trad session
Saturday Night 7-11pm (€20) - includes access to Evening event featuring Branwen Kavanagh, Baptist Goth, Amir Abualrob, 7of9 and more (dinner not included)
Sunday Brunch 10-2pm (€20) - Brunch and access to DykeNite DJ’s and Performances
Please note that Faoin Tuath is an over 18s event. Bar will be available (subject to granting of licence).
How to get there and where to stay
Accommodation: Those booking weekend tickets will have the option to book to stay on-site at Common Knowledge’s Failte Ireland approved accommodation, with private and shared rooms from €35 per person per night, and camping or van parking from €10 per night. Booking details supplied when booking tickets.
Getting there: Faoin Tuath will take place at The Common Knowledge Centre in Kilfenora (Eircode: V95DK38). Details of how to reach The Common Knowledge Centre are available here. Those booking tickets will have the option to join a whatsapp group to offer or seek lifts.
Faoin Tuath is a Queer Sheds project
Queer Sheds is a new initiative aiming to address the social isolation experienced by LGBTQ+ people in people in rural Ireland by creating space for community to come together and share space, skills and solidarity with other LGBTQ+ people. Inspired by Men’s Sheds, which have had a huge impact in tackling isolation, non-profit social enterprise Common Knowledge have started with a 6 month pilot in Clare to explore the idea of a national network with the support of Clare County Council, whilst raising visibility, building queer community and seeking to understand the need for this kind of space.
If you're interested in joining the first Queer Shed in Clare, or having a Queer Shed in your area, register for the Queer Sheds networks at: queersheds.org
Faoin Tuath Festival and Queer Sheds are proudly funded by Clare County Council.
Website: www.queersheds.org
Social Media: instagram.com/queersheds