Creative Waterford will host Cruinniú na nÓg on Saturday June 13th 2020. Cruinniú na nÓg is Ireland’s national festival of creativity for young people. A series of free online workshops and events have been developed including a number of creative, cultural and engaging “calls to action” which children, young people – indeed entire families – can create in their own homes and gardens on Saturday 13th June.
Creative Waterford has concentrated on a theme of creativity and wellbeing, and has developed a series of workshops that can easily be carried out at home. Reuse of household items and sustainable approaches to making and doing means that the whole family can have fun together while learning new skills. Online workshops run from June 9th to June 13th and they include circus skills and Muay Thai to help young people to build their flexibility, strength and balance. Both of these series are open to young people of all ages.
Good mental health is supported by a series of workshops on mindfulness. This skill is increasingly important for the wellbeing of young people in uncertain times and five workshops are aimed specifically at mindfulness for youth. For young people interested in the sciences and technology, coder dojo and STEAM workshops are available from June 9th onwards. Djembe drummer Frank Whelan asks nine to twelve year olds to join him from their kitchens and gardens to learn some traditional West African rhythms using drums or pots and pans. Teens can check out the Film Making by Phone workshop. This session involves showing teenagers the basics of mobile phone film making – the crash course aims to unlock their creativity by giving them the know-how to make no-budget short films from home, and focusing on some basics of storytelling as well some recording and editing techniques.
Waterford Cruinniú na nÓg coordinator Emma Haran said “this year’s festival has brought lots of challenges but also opportunities to be both creative and innovative in our programming. Creativity is crucial to how we all respond to the current environment and it’s vitally important that we attend to the wellbeing of young people who are facing a very different world to the one they are used to.”
Waterford Cruinniú na nÓg 2020 events and workshops are free to join and will be available at www.waterfordlibraries.ie/creative-waterford
All of the Waterford events will also be available through the Creative Waterford Facebook page.
A comprehensive listing of national events and activities is available at https://cruinniu.creativeireland.gov.ie/events/.
Contact creativewaterford@waterfordcouncil.ie with any queries or questions.
