Sounds From A Safe Harbour a roaring success in Cork
The first event of Cork’s busy festival season drew hundreds of creatives, thousands of punters and seemingly endless amounts of sunshine to the city over the weekend.
Sounds From A Safe Harbour was back for a fourth edition – the first since the pandemic – and again provided a feast of events for audiences, and the type of collaborative experiences that make it so popular with visiting artists.
Music headliners such as Wilco and Feist packed the city’s Opera House, but it was the dozens of scheduled smaller gigs and impromptu pop-up events that made Safe Harbour truly special.
Largely the brainchild of Fermoy’s Mary Hickson and the Dessner brothers from American band The National, the Cork festival is as much an event for the artists as for the audiences who turn up in the numerous venues around the city. Its emphasis on creating collaborations between the artists links it to similar-ethos events in Berlin and the US, and saw some interesting mixes of genres across the weekend.
For instance, Blarney troubadour Mick Flannery was joined on stage at The Pav by Dublin pop star Dermot Kennedy, while Kerry's Cormac Begley took his traditional tunes into the realm of contemporary classical with a set at St Luke’s alongside cellist Kate Ellis. One of Ireland’s greatest living artists, Dorothy Cross, conversed with celebrated English author Max Porter at the Crawford, while Canadian musician Feist also soundtracked the latter figure’s book reading.
American indie heroes Wilco played a triumphant gig at the Opera House on Saturday night, while Irish nu-folkies Ye Vagabonds were joined by an eclectic mix of musical visitors for the final concert on Sunday.
Away from the music, audiences were treated to world-class productions from the likes of Cork choreographer Luke Murphy with Volcano, at the Granary, and Kerry-based Teac Damsa’s How To Be A Dancer In Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons, at the Everyman.
The presence of festival co-curator Cillian Murphy at numerous events gave it an extra sprinkling of stardust, but the Oppenheimer lead’s demeanour in his hometown is very much one of somebody with little interest in the trappings of celebrity.
The festival feels gloriously uncommercial and creative, an impression commented on by arts writer Marc O’Sullivan Vallig.
“It has often been remarked that Ireland lacks an avant-garde, or even the conditions for such a phenomenon to flourish. Sounds from a Safe Harbour gives lie to that; the festival has become a place of refuge for experimentalists and radical art makers, a platform for unlikely collaborations, and a springboard for demanding works in progress,” said O’Sullivan.
Safe Harbour director Mary Hickson was particularly chuffed with the informal collaborations and jam sessions at the River Lee hotel.
"It’s been deeply profound for all of us. The residency exploded with creativity that we will feel in our bones for a long time. I am so incredibly grateful to the artists for trusting me and bringing all of themselves to Cork and to Cork for embracing them," said Ms Hickson.
After a brief respite, the southern city will have its folk festival (Sept 27 – Oct 1), the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival (Oct 26-30), and Cork International Film Festival (Nov 10-20).
