Culture Night Cork County 2019

This year Culture Night will take place on Friday 20th September from 4pm until midnight. The Arts Office is working alongside the Dept of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to plan and coordinate a programme of events within County Cork. If you are interested in organising an event, the application process is now open.

Why take part in Culture Night?

  • Culture Night offers a platform for artists, performers, storytellers, creators, makers etc. to showcase their skills, talents, and products to a growing local and international audience, reminding us all about the fantastic cultural facilities and resources that we have locally and nationally.
  • It raises the profile of cultural organizations, activities and facilities, while inviting a new audience to witness and inquire on activities happening in their local cultural scene.
  • As all events for Culture night are free and take place in the evening, it allows culture to become accessible to a wider audience.
  • Culture Night helps to create a sense of community. Bringing people together and opening conversation about ideas, culture and creativity.

Interested?

Culture night encompasses all art forms. Events range from storytelling, art exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, lectures and parades, reflecting the diversity of culture in Cork County. To participate in Culture Night your event and venue has to be free to the public and take place between 4pm and midnight on Friday September 20th.

How to get involved

Begin by planning your event! Gather enthusiastic members of your community to get involved in planning and organising your Culture Night 2019. Set your target audience and secure a location. Set your time between 4pm and midnight on the 20th of September! Once decided on your event, complete the online event information form. We will include the information you give us in the printed Cork County programme of events, the Cork County Culture Night website and the National Culture Night website.

Ideas and Tips on how to make your Culture Night event a success in your local community.

To ensure that the 2019 event remains fresh and exciting, we suggest that you consider all aspects of the event happening in your organisation. (E.g. performance, workshops, location, collaboration, target audience, marketing…)

  • Consider customer care at all stages of your planning; make it fun for your audience and visitors to come back!
  • Think about how you could cater for families or a variety of age groups, or how you could attract people who don’t usually attend culture or arts events.
  • Consider organising performances or events in public areas to draw visitors in.
  • Use Culture Night as an opportunity to commission new work or collaborative work with other artists in your area.
  • Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote your event. Social media platforms are particularly useful in the lead up to the event. Tag us @CorkCountyArts and the national culture night page @CultureNight to share and promote your event.
  • Think about what happens after Culture Night – how will you encourage first-time visitors to come back? (e.g. stamps / printed materials / loyalty cards)

Funding support

Culture Night relies on individuals and organisations being prepared to organise events using their own resources.  While all events should be self financing, the Arts Office may be able to provide a small amount of funding to some projects on the basis of the event having exceptional costs or having the potential to create a unique event. If your event falls into this category, you should, when completing the online event form, highlight any significant costs and make a case for support.  As a guide, funding support will only apply to exceptional costs such as artist fees, hire of sound/lighting equipment, etc.

Irish Language funding: For those who are planning an event that will promote the Irish language, outside of the Gaeltacht, a limited amount of funding is available from An tOireachtas. The Cork County Culture Night office will provide more information on applying for this funding in the coming week.

What role will the Arts office play?

Muireann Kelleher has been contracted by Cork County Council’s Arts Office to coordinate Cork County Culture Night 2019. The Arts Office will compile all information for the countywide programme. We are here to help and will provide a targeted PR campaign to ensure public awareness of these events at a local, regional and national level as well as marketing support through the Culture Night Cork County website, www.culturenightcorkcounty.ie. National Culture Night website, https://culturenight.ie/  social media, print programmes and distribution.

Important!

The deadline for the submitting content and three images for the Cork County printed programme is 5pm, Friday, July 5th 2019. Please submit your event information to the ‘online event form’ listed on the homepage. www.culturenightcorkcounty.ie

Event information received after this date can’t be included in the printed programme but will be listed on the Cork County Culture Night Website – www.culturenightcorkcounty.ie  or the national website – www.culturenight.ie .

For more information, advice and support please contact:

Muireann Kelleher on: 021 4285000 ext 6971.

Or via email: culturenightcorkcounty@gmail.com