Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing 2025 launches exciting lineup – over 30 FREE local arts events!
Are you feeling well?
Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing 2025 launches exciting lineup – over 30 FREE local arts events
• Music, art, dance, poetry and stories to lift people’s spirits
• Dedicated activities for younger audiences through the Wellies programme
• Festival dates: Monday 17 – Saturday 22 February
Taking place in venues across Waterford from Monday 17 to Saturday 22 February, the Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing features an inspirational line-up of over 30 fun, FREE and sociable arts events for all ages. Presented by Waterford Healing Arts and Waterford Libraries, festivalgoers will experience the joy of creativity through music, art, dance, literature, talks, workshops and interactive opportunities for all ages. The programme also includes Wellies, with events designed especially for younger audiences including dance workshops, crafting, storytelling and more.
View the full Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing 2025 Programme here.
The 12th Well Festival of Arts and Wellbeing celebrates how the arts make us feel good and inspire us. Echoing nature’s journey from winter into spring, with the evenings getting a little brighter and new life beginning to appear, the Well Festival invites people to venture out, explore and make new connections. In addition to events across the city, the festival has a special focus on arts for people in healthcare settings with a range of activities and immersive experiences planned for patients and staff at University Hospital Waterford.
Some Highlights
• Fancy a lift? A daily postcard with poetry, curated by poet Kerrie O’Brien, delivered on meal trays to patients at University Hospital Waterford (UHW), and available to all through Central Library, Lady Lane, Waterford and Dungarvan Library, Davitt’s Quay, Dungarvan, Co Waterford and online via www.wellwaterford.com from 9am each day.
• Why Arts? The Annual Réalta-Well Festival Keynote conversation, featuring Dr Austin O’Carroll, champion of quality healthcare access for all, with Waterford’s Dermot Keyes, Monday 17 Feb, 6pm at Réalta Centre for Arts + Health, UHW. Dr O’Carroll will talk about the value of the arts in his life. He has been a GP in Dublin’s inner city since 1997 and is passionate about improving access to quality primary healthcare for communities affected by marginalisation or deprivation.
• Slow Stitching – Sip and sew for wellness: Discover the ancient art of mark making through needle, thread and fabric with Christina Drennan. A social sewing session, on Tuesday 18 February at Central Library, Lady Lane from 10am-12.30pm. Booking essential.
• Dance Yourself Free! An energising dance workshop for teens aged 15-18 with Sinéad Gould at Central Library on Tuesday 18 February. Booking Essential.
• Cuppa & Ceol: A sociable, music-infused tea party with well-known musician Liam Merriman, Monday 17 Feb from 10.30am at Carrickphierish Library, Gracedieu, Waterford.
• Yutori: A unique ambient sound art installation by Patrick McGlynn aka Dr Mindflip, with sounds that change depending on the day, hour and minute. It will be positioned in the UHW main foyer during the Well Festival, and in various public and patient spaces at the hospital thereafter.
• Fragments of Motifs in Nature: An exhibition by artist Rica Shimabukuro whose exquisite and intricate artworks transport the viewer away from stress and worry into a fantasy world of wild birds, plants and movement – at UHW. Rica will also run an interactive workshop on Monday 17 February – Booking is Essential.
• Mystic Holistic: Nature Crafts & Mindfulness for Children aged 8 to 12. Join artist Claire O’Sullivan for a fun workshop of creative, wild art and crafts. Thursday 20 February at Central Library, 1pm, and Carrickphierish Library, 3pm – Booking is Essential.
• Sunshine – Sharing writings to brighten our souls: A friendly evening of poetry and song at the Book Centre, Waterford. With artist, writer and photographer Catherine Drea and musician Bill Stuart, Friday 21 February at 6pm – All Welcome.
Visit www.wellwaterford.com for full festival details.
Well is presented by Réalta / Waterford Healing Arts and Waterford City & County Libraries, and is funded by the Arts Council, the HSE and Waterford City & County Council. Sunshine: sharing writings to brighten our souls is kindly supported by The Book Centre, Waterford.
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