Create Networking event 2025, F2 Centre, Rialto. Photo: Joseph Carr
Festival Makers CONNECT
Event
We are delighted to welcome Festival Makers, Producers and Practitioners to Festival Makers Connect, Day 3 of the Festival Makers Conference 2026, held on the 23rd May at ATU Sligo.
The day’s programme will feature presentations, workshops and networking opportunities to support community-led programming and partnership development for festivals, and has been co-designed with Festival Makers, Producers and Practitioners from Northern Ireland and the six border counties.
Admission is free but places are limited and must be reserved in advance. Only 2 tickets per festival can be reserved.
Schedule
Festival makers CONNECT will be held at Hume Hall, ATU Sligo, from 10am to 6pm on the 23rd May.
| Programme for Day 3 – Festival Makers Conference | |
| Festival Makers Connect | |
| Hume Hall, ATU Sligo | 10 am – 6pm |
| Registration | 10 – 11am |
| Tea and Coffee with light bites upon arrival. | |
| Welcome Address | 11 – 11.20am |
| Damien McGlynn, Create | |
| Dr. Kerry McCall Magan, British Council | |
| Digital Video Presentation | 11.25am |
| “Art Cure” | Dr. Daisy Fancourt |
| Introduced by Sarah Jones, NI Science Festival | |
| Workshop | 12am – 1pm |
| Why do we do what we do – how can connecting with other festivals help us to do what we do? | Facilitated by Festival Makers Connect Co-Design Group utilising Open Space Technology |
| Introduced by Joeleen Lynch, Create | |
| Lunch – ATU Canteen | 1 – 2pm |
| Guest Speaker | 2 – 2.40pm |
| Collaborating cross-border and Accessibility in Festivals | Edel Murphy – University of Atypical |
| and Bounce & Disrupt Festivals | |
| Introduced by Cllr. Aine McCabe, Feile an Phobail | |
| followed by a Q&A | |
| Panel Discussion, moderated by Damien McGlynn, Create | 2.45 – 4pm |
| Insights for festivals collaborating cross-border | With Shona McCarthy, International Fund for Ireland; Ciaran Walsh, Culture Ireland; Edel Murphy (University of Atypical); Followed by an audience Q&A |
| Closing Remarks | 4pm – 4.15pm |
| Damien McGlynn, Create | |
| Dr. Kerry McCall Magan, British Council | |
| ATU’s YADA Showcase & Exhibition | 4.15 – 5.30pm |
| Yeats Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture Building – Black Box and Various Studios | |
| Ends | 6pm |
Festivals Connect
Festival Makers Connect is part of the Festivals Connect programme, led by Create, in partnership with the British Council, in associate partnership with the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, supported by PEACEPLUS, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
For more information on the Festival Makers Full Conference programme please click here.
