Applefest Projects

Since 2021, Applefest has initiated several place-specific creative projects that engage with the community and the place we live in, bringing together artists, performers, stakeholders and interested members of the community to develop original experiences and special exhibits to share in the public realm. For 2023, we had several projects in train, all of which will be unveiled during the Festival week in late September.

Current

Band in Residence - Johanna-Adele Jüssi Trio
Originally from Estonia and now living in Northern Norway, fiddle player Johanna-Adele Jüssi spent much of her life travelling around the Nordic countries as well as Germany and the Shetland Isles. Along the way she developed a unique musical voice, which she calls “music from the Lynx Valley”. Jüssi will be coming to Ireland for a short tour in late September 2024, performing with her trio that includes Bendik Lund Haanshus (guitars) and bass player Erlend Smalås and taking up position as the Clonmel Applefest's 2024 band in residence.
Dancing The Orchard
A Clonmel Applefest dance commission featuring Instant Dissidence together with The Night Orchard funded by the Arts Council, with sponsorship from The Apple Farm
Our Soul Food Table, a multicultural Stitch & Talk project around favourite food memories
This year we are celebrating food and to this end, we are inviting stitchers of all kinds, beginners, intermediate and/or advanced, to depict their favourite 'soul food' memory. FREE but register your interest by clicking to the form link below.
Elders of Clonmel part II
Clonmel Applefest is delighted to launch our new writing project for 2024, building on the success of last year and highlighting the life-stories of key older citizens of Clonmel. This year, Elders will be selected via recommendations in tandem with photographer John Kelly’s profound knowledge of Clonmel and its people. And they will be interviewed in their professional and/or volunteering settings rather than their domestic realms.

Past Projects

2023

The Fresh Air Collective
The Fresh Air Collective are a Cork-based all-female musical trio that will be taking residence for 4 days during the festival
Feast of Flags
Learn how to make large colourful flags and banners which celebrate apples, harvest and all things natural around Clonmel.
Elders of Clonmel Book
A writing project highlighting the lifestories of some of the key older citizens of Clonmel

2022

Outside the Lines
Brigid is the lead artist in this project originally designed for Cruinniù na nÒg during which she worked for 6 weeks with residents of Hughes Mills on Suir Island making art, using soil, planting seeds, and sharing food as part of a series of arts activities in a number of media such as clay, wool, cardboard and paint.
Harvest Procession and Fire Finale Performance with Rogù Fire Arts
An initiative started in 2021 during lockdown, the Harvest Procession is an exploration of celtic & indigenous rituals and traditional Harvest practices from Ireland and around the world.
Tipperary Food Residency
Clonmel Applefest is delighted to announce its collaboration with 7 Tipperary Food producers who will host printmaker Aoife Barrett for a 3-day residency each during the months June to August 2022.
Artisans of Clonmel
Discover this exquisite book of craftspeople from our area as presented by 8 local writers in this new book of interviews of 13 locally-based artisans complete with beautiful photographs by John D.Kelly.