BEALTAINE 2025 Events
Zest4Life – Theatre Workshop for Older Adults
2nd & 3rd May | 1PM | Free Admission (Pre-Booking Essential)
(Same workshop offered on both days – choose the date that suits you!)
As part of the Bealtaine Festival, celebrating creativity in older age, Zest4Life is a joyful and engaging theatre workshop designed especially for older adults. Through playful theatre techniques, storytelling, and gentle improvisation, participants will explore the stories that have shaped them — and the wisdom, humour, and vitality they carry forward. Set in a relaxed and supportive environment, the workshop draws on the spirit of the old ramble house, where everyone had a party piece — a song, a story, or a dance — shared for the joy and connection of all present. Come along to reflect on life’s lessons, share your voice, and celebrate your unique zest for life. Open to all levels and skillsets.
🎤 Special moments and stories from the workshop will be recorded and shared with the wider community online and on local radio — honouring the voices and experiences of participants in a lasting and meaningful way.
Miss Mary Dance Workshop & Performance
WORKSHOPS – Roscommon Arts Centre
Wednesdays 14th & 21st May | 10:30AM
We’re inviting the community to be part of our very special Bealtaine dance programme as part of Miss Mary, to share your stories and be part of the creative process.
Come join us in dance workshops to celebrate the tradition of dancing at crossroads. These workshops will inform this new show, Miss Mary, which you are invited to on Saturday May 24th at The Square, Roscommon Town.
If you would like Kristyn to come directly to your group to provide a workshop between May 12th- 23rd please contact the arts centre directly on artscentre@roscommoncoco.ie or call the arts centre on 090 662 5824
PERFORMANCE – The Square, Roscommon Town
Saturday May 24th | 2PM | Free performance, all welcome. Please feel free to join in.
For a very special outdoor dance performance, join Miss Mary, as she traces the footsteps of the traveling dance masters of Ireland, to meet at the crossroads and dance. Miss Mary asks where did you come from, how do you move, and will you dance with me? Come share your story and join Miss Mary.
She is migratory, as the masters before her. To her, the land is a journey. She arrives at a gathering of people to exchange, listen, and learn stories and steps of the past, intimately connecting with the audience and land. Memories inhabit people, traditional music inhabits the land.
Miss Mary is co-produced by Roscommon Arts Centre with support from the Bealtaine touring award, additional support from Roscommon Arts Office & County Council, Backstage Theatre, Longford, and An Tain Arts Centre, Dundalk.
As a choreographer/dance artist Kristyn Fontanella focuses her past knowledge of Irish step dancing and presents it in a contemporary context. Having toured for over 12 years with Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and as lead soloist in Gaelforce Dance, her current mission is to show another side of the complex world of Irish Step dancing to future generations.
Roscommon Men’s Choir | The Square, Roscommon Town
Saturday 24th May | 1:30pm | Free performance, all welcome.
We’re delighted to welcome The Roscommon Men’s Choir as part of this year’s Bealtaine programme.
The choir was formed in Oct 2023 with the intention of doing a one off performance to raise money for a local charity that Christmas. Padraig O’Rourke, their founding member, put a call out to all his male contacts and got great uptake on the idea including a number of local musicians willing to provide a backing band.
After a number of successful performances at Christmas, and seeing the great feedback and support from the public, they decided to continue practicing and performing, resulting in around 60 members in total with 30-35 performing at their gigs.
The choir is focused on providing a social outlet for its members with twice weekly practices and numerous live performances throughout the year. The members range in age from 18 up to late 70’s and their musical repertoire ranges in genre from Rock and Pop to Irish Ballads from the 60’s to present day.
They bring a vibrant energy to their popular performances and pride themselves in influencing positive mental health awareness for men.
BASKING Workshops with Tom Meskell
Become an artist as part of this year’s Bealtaine celebrations at Roscommon Arts Centre! Join artist Tom Meskell as he creates a stunning new exhibition Basking as part of our Visual Arts exhibition programme.
We’re inviting people young and old to come together as part of our Bealtaine celebrations to join one of our making sessions, your work will feature as part of the exhibition which opens Friday 13th June, which you are invited to.
Basking is a celebration of both the resilience of nature and the power of community.
The exhibition will feature a life-sized lantern sculpture of a basking shark, surrounded by over 60 shell-like lantern structures, all crafted from willow and tissue paper and lit from within. Featuring a soundscape by renowned artists Colm o Snodaigh and Brian Hogan.
The Elderberries & Housewife of the Year | Film Screenings
Thursday 29th May | 7pm | €18/€16
The Elderberries, Creative Movement and Dance for over 50s.
A ‘fly on the wall’ short filmed taster of The Elderberries Creative Movement and Dance weekly sessions for older adults based in Roscommon Arts Centre. This short film forms part of an ongoing Film Project being worked on by the groups, facilitated and directed by Catherine Donnelly, Dance Artist.
Duration: 12 minutes
Followed by…
Former Housewife of the Year Winner and ICA member Ena Howell will speak at the event and host a Q&A afterwards, as a guest of the Roscommon Irish Country Women’s Association.
