The Hills Are Alive! Returns
The Hills Are Alive, returns this August to continue cultivating creative connections between Cave Hill and Vinegar Hill. An artist exchange and an arts centre exchange between The Duncairn and Wexford Arts Centre.
At the core of this project is a desire to spark new creative collaborations and build relationships and friendships across the island, so from August 13th-16th, members of the Duncairn Creative Collective will collaborate with Wexford-born and based artists through creative residencies and live performances across the county.
On Thursday 13th August, the invited artists will perform as part of the Song Room - much loved intimate listening concert series above The Sky and the Ground. A welcome session of sorts after the drive down from Belfast!
On Saturday 15th August, Wexford Arts Centre will host The Duncairn’s “Club Fifty” - a night of arts and activism, music, poetry and discussion where 50 audience members are invited to engage with a specific theme. Last year’s Club Fifty centred around the Fleadh Cheoil, and this year, as Wexford Arts Centre hosts the exhibition “Memory of a Free Festival” - the Club Fifty will explore the climate crises and climate justice.
The exhibition responds to the Carnsore Point anti-nuclear festivals that took place in Wexford between 1978 and 1981. The festivals were attended by thousands of people, unified by their shared opposition to what would have been the first nuclear power plant to be built in Ireland. In addition to musical entertainment and lectures, the free festivals also included workshops and exhibitions.
The exhibition features Orla Barry, Brian Duggan, and Alanna O’Kelly the exhibition also includes photos by Derek Speirs and original archival material produced by the Irish Anti-Nuclear Movement.
This very special Club 50, inspired by the Carnsore Point exhibition and movement, features guest speakers John Barry and Mary Reynolds, alongside the Duncairn Creative Collective ‘Wexford Edition’. A night of music, poetry, discussion and audience engagement that will provoke, inspire, inform, question, engage and entertain.
The Duncairn Creative Collective will make an appearance at Fuddlefest in Fuddletown amidst a wonderful line up of artists on Sunday August 16th! Fuddletown is a bustling family farm surrounded by rolling fields. The gorgeous gardens play host to multiple stages and installations which festival-goers are able to discover as they wander from concert to concert. A fitting end to the residency weekend!
In between the public performances, the group will spend time together to share, compose, connect and collaborate. The Hills Are Alive will continue in early September up in Belfast with a residency weekend, here at The Duncairn, with peer-led collaborations, compositions and song-writing. And maybe a surprise performance or two popping up around North Belfast! Watch this space!
Supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport through the Co-operation Northern Ireland Scheme 2026.
