Music and arts on show at the Big House festival

THE Performance Corporation is renowned for staging its theatre productions in adventurous places — in medieval dungeons, amongst sand dunes, even on a small rowboat. For its latest, most adventurous trick, it’s staging a three-day festival in Ireland’s only palace — Castletown House on the outskirts of Celbridge, Co Kildare.

The inaugural Big House Festival kicks off tomorrow.

“It’s an entirely different take on the idea of a summer festival,” says Jo Mangan, the festival’s artistic director. “We’re combining two things — the idea of a music festival and an arts festival. With an arts festival, you have to trawl through a brochure and decide what to go and see. You pay your money for each individual element. You plan your few days or couples of weeks accordingly. With a music festival, it’s a one-price entry and you get to see whatever you want.