The NASC network is delighted to present LASTA, a national arts programme for young people by young people, taking place across 8 venues in Ireland from 11th – 20th June.
From all corners of Ireland this is the biggest collaborative arts festival taking place in venues across the country from Tralee to Limerick, Ennis to Galway, Portlaoise to Longford and Dún Laoghaire to Letterkenny.
In a new innovative approach to programming, twenty-one young curators were engaged by the NASC venues to programme a festival of work for children and young people from 11th to 20th June 2021, delivering for the first time, a national arts programme curated entirely by young people. Lasta is based on an original project conceived and delivered by Backstage Theatre, Longford in 2020.
Under the guidance of theatre artists Maisie Lee and Fionn Foley, these young people have worked collaboratively to deliver an ambitious programme of work for young people across the country.
The Curators have delivered a unique and diverse programme of events to take place within the 10-day festival featuring theatre, dance, visual art, music, film, spoken word along with innovative site specific and multi-disciplinary events.
Highlights of the festival include: AfroPopCity, a Limerick based Afrobeat and Hip-Hop Collective; Silent, Pat Kinevane’s Olivier Award-winning play; Drifting, a short film set in a small midlands town, starring Paul Mescal and Dafhyd Flynn; What Moves You, featuring Snowflake-author Louise Nealon in conversation with movement artist Douglas Reddan; actor and writer Owen Colgan star of the hit show The Hardy Bucks, brings you The Dance of Life a collection of videos; Indie rock group NewDad; singer song-writer Aoife Meade who will entertain audiences with her jazzy tones and Irish and international traditional star Lisa Canny.
Featuring multiple disciplines and reflecting the diversity of modern Ireland, this pioneering project will showcase the breadth of creativity of our future arts programmers and producers. This promises to be a fresh, fun, diverse, accessible, and exciting festival of events. Booking is now open with many events free to attend.
The NASC Network Venues are: Backstage Theatre (Longford) www.backstage.ie; Dunamaise Arts Centre (Portlaoise) www.dunamaise.ie; glór (Ennis) www.glor.ie; An Grianán (Letterkenny) www.angrianan.com; Lime Tree Theatre (Limerick) www.limetreetheatre.ie; Pavilion Theatre (Dún Laoghaire) www.paviliontheatre.ie; Siamsa Tíre (Tralee) www.siamsatire.com and Town Hall Theatre (Galway) www.tht.ie
For further media information and images please contact Gillian Fenton on 087 7840270, alternatively booking information can be found on each venue website – https://linktr.ee/lastafestival2021
Lasta is presented as part of Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh, a nationwide, ten-day season of arts experiences brought to you by the Arts Council.
Please click on the link https://linktr.ee/lastafestival2021 to find out more about all Lasta events nationally.
Join the conversation here: Instagram @lastafestival2021 │ Facebook.com/lastafestival2021 │ TikTok @lastafestival21 | Twitter.com @lfestival2021
For more information on Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh go to www.brighteningair.com. Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh is brought to you by the Arts Council, funded by the Government of Ireland and produced by Schweppe Curtis Nunn.