Giraffes, a spectacular sun, and a 24-hour play: Cork Midsummer Fest launches programme 

The annual event offers a feast of theatre, music, art, and street entertainment

Lorraine Maye of Cork Midsummer Festival will unveil a programme that includes Luke Jerram's sun installation, and a street parade featuring giant giraffes.

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a herd of giraffes walking down Patrick’s Street. Fota Wildlife Park can rest easy though, as these particular specimens will strut their stuff as part of the eye-catching line-up for this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival. In Les Girafes: An Animal Operetta, from French street theatre outfit, Compagnie OFF, seven towering red giraffes will parade down the city’s main thoroughfare, accompanied by a troupe of musicians and performers.

According to festival director Lorraine Maye, the scale of this spectacle hasn’t been seen in Cork for decades. “It is enormously exciting to see the festival using the streets for this very big moment,” says Maye in advance of the event’s official programme launch on Thursday evening.