Fancy a lift?, Doodling for Wellbeing and Small Acts, Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing 2022 programme launched; Festival dates: Monday 7 – Saturday 12 February

Fancy a lift?, Doodling for Wellbeing and Small Acts are some of the highlights of this year’s Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing. Taking place in Waterford on the festival’s new dates, Monday 7 to
Saturday 12 February, Well features an inspirational line-up of fun, free, inventive and sociable arts events for all ages. In this, its ninth year, the festival presents musicians, artists, poets, storytellers, filmmakers and dancers, as well as a programme of Wellies, the festival’s events for younger
audiences. The full festival programme is available from www.wellwaterford.com

The Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing champions and celebrates all the ways that the arts help usto feel good. Due to the ongoing pandemic and in line with public health guidelines, many events
will again take place online, giving this Waterford-wide festival the opportunity to reach beyond the
county borders and welcome arts fans from near and far. Each day, festival-goers will have the
opportunity to witness colourful, beautiful, thought-provoking music, art, movement and literature,
and to experience the joy of creativity through a range of workshops and interactive opportunities
for all ages.

Festival 2022 Highlights
Highlights of the Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing 2022 programme include:

– Fancy a lift?, a daily poetry postcard, curated by Waterford writer Joanne McCarthy, delivered
virtually online and on meal trays to patients at University Hospital Waterford (UHW);
– Doodling for Wellbeing, an online tutorial to demonstrate the ease and benefits of doodling, by
illustrator Sarah Bowie; Promo video for the doodling online tutorial
– Small Acts, a special Garter Lane/Well Festival Artist Residency, which sees movement artist Rachel Ní Bhraonáin working with the Waterford New Community Women’s Shed;
– Why Arts?, the Well Festival Keynote conversation, featuring geriatrician, art collector and
champion of arts in healthcare Dr Paul Finucane with writer Gemma Tipton;
– a myriad of workshops (online and in person) including Get Creative with Natural Materials with
Sean Corcoran, Spring has Sprung Pots with Aoife Murphy and Open Gallery at Home with Caroline Schofield and Jill Bouchier.
– For Waterford based artists, arts workers and/or anyone interested in getting involved in the arts in Waterford, there’s a special Creative Communities online event, presented by the Well Festival in partnership with Creative Waterford;
– For artists interested in working with older people, there’s a unique continuous professional
development opportunity with Caroline Schofield who will share her experience of delivering Art at
the Kitchen Table throughout County Waterford;
– Waterford Healing Arts Trust’s Healing Sounds musicians will deliver a daily Musical Postcard
online, while…
– the A Better Place exhibition, featuring the work of artist Donna McGee, continues at UHW;
– Storyteller Joe Brennan presents The Curing Walk, a story inspired by artist residency at the
hospital;
– and the much loved festival flagship event We haven’t had an earthquake lately, supported by The Book Centre Waterford, returns, to be led once again by the inimitable Catherine Drea.
– For younger audiences, the Wellies programme invites children and young people to finesse their doodling skills, create a Poet’s Tree and witness the creation of a new inspiring work of art outdoors at UHW by Curtis Hylton of The Walls Project.

Speaking at the launch of the festival programme, Claire Meaney, Director of Waterford Healing Arts Trust, said “We are delighted to be able to present the Well Festival while we are still navigating our ever-changing circumstances. We continue to be reminded of how valuable the arts are for lifting our spirits and nurturing our wellbeing, which spurs us on to re-imagine how we can bring our festival, safely, to our lovely audiences.”

Breda O’Shea of Waterford City and County Libraries added “We’re really excited to move to our
new festival date of February and we hope that the Well Festival’s range of events and happenings
will brighten the winter days and point us towards spring, towards hope and all its colourful
possibilities.”

Sile Penkert, Executive Director of Garter Lane Arts Centre, continued “The Well Festival gives us a unique opportunity to offer company and creative engagement to the community, and to offer
fulfilment through creative self-expression. We hope our audiences will find our programme
inspiring and we look forward to welcoming everyone, virtually or in person, to our many events.”

The Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing is funded by the Arts Council, the HSE and Waterford City
and County Council, with generous support from Sanofi. The festival is presented by Garter Lane
Arts Centre, Waterford City and County Libraries and Waterford Healing Arts Trust. The full festival
programme is available at www.wellwaterford.com. See the Well Festival also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.