Cork Midsummer Festival returns with a cultural lark by the Lee
From a 24-hour play to a horde of giraffes of the city streets, Festival Director Lorraine Maye previews the 2025 Cork Midsummer Festival programme, bringing an eclectic array of cultural activities to Cork city this June.
Cork is the stage for Cork Midsummer Festival, where extraordinary Irish and international artists meet audiences in theatres, streets and unexpected places. So many people come together in the city to make this festival happen and it channels Cork's unique sense of adventure and playful spirit.
The thing I love most about it, is that it always feels so alive - there are so many different ways to encounter live theatre, dance, music, circus, literature and art. There are always imaginative ways for people to participate and get involved and it's where the stories of the city meet the stories of the world.
There are shows you won't see elsewhere in Ireland, art that will be seen for the very first time and moments that will never be repeated.
From 4pm on Saturday 14 June until 4pm on Sunday 15 June, we will gather in Cork Opera House to watch Eileen Walsh, one of our finest actors, do something truly remarkable. She'll perform the same theatrical scene 100 times opposite 100 different men, most of whom are not actors. She has never done it before and will never do it again.
The show is Nat Randall and Anna Breckon's The Second Woman and acclaimed versions with other actors have been performed in cities all over the world. For audiences – who can come and go over the 24 hours, stay for 30 minutes or the full event – it's a once in a lifetime experience.
Another part of our Australian season is Burnout Paradise by Pony Cam, where performers race against the clock to complete a series of tasks – all while running on treadmills. They aren't always successful – at a recent performance in St Ann's Warehouse in New York they admitted they failed 29 out of 44 times performing the show. No two shows are alike.
Amanda Coogan, one of Ireland's most celebrated artists, returns to the festival with an incredible new durational work Caught Among the Furze. This 7 day immersive performance invites audiences to step in and out of moments of stillness and raw endurance and will evolve and change each day.
Following the sell-out success of last year's debut performance of the Solstice Céili by Martin O'Donoghue at Elizabeth Fort, this year is centred around new co-created dances, fire and magic. It's an unmissable celebration of Midsummer ritual and new traditions and all kinds of fun and joy.
I'm really excited about all of the new work that will be presented across the city. On Emmet Place, Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals' Theatre For One: Made in Cork will feature new short plays by Cónal Creedon, Katie Holly, John McCarthy, Michael John McCarthy, Gina Moxley and Louise O'Neill. Cork theatre maker Irene Kelleher will present a cracking double bill of shows including Stitch in site-responsive locations and emerging Cork artist Aaron O'Neill will present his hilarious new play Bottlenose: a Mystery for Modern Ireland. At The Everyman, the first audiences will see a new production of Caryl Churchill's masterpiece Escaped Alone by Hatch Theatre Company and The Everyman in association with Once Off Productions.
We're thrilled to be working in partnership with UCC for the first time this year to develop a new literature strand called Western Frequencies. Co-curated with Danny Denton, events will take place in venues on campus and feature bestselling international writers such as Claudia Rankine and GauZ' with translations from Frank Wynne, alongside award-winning and celebrated Irish writers Patrick McCabe, who will perform with David Murphy and Michael Lightborne, and Sinead Gleeson in conversation with her long-time collaborator Aideen Barry, our festival artist in residence.
Through our participation programme, we have a special focus this year on amplifying the voices of young people. Twelve Cork girls take control of the airwaves in Action Hero's Rebel Resistors Radio Club. While the young people participating in the Midsummer Youth Assembly take over Fitzgerald's Park.
The festival will open with a giant installation of the sun at St Fin Barre's (Helios by Luke Jerram) and end with a herd of huge French giraffes parading down St Patricks Street (Les Girafes by Compagnie Off). Join us in June for bright nights, bold art and unforgettable live encounters.
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