Celebrate May Sunday Festival at Glenbower with wreath-making, 'dogsercise', and art installations

The series of creative and eco events include Annie Tull's 'Of the Forest Floor' interactive exhibition

The May Sunday Festival will bring you outdoors into the beautiful Glenbower Woods near the East Cork town of Killeagh for a series of unique creative and ecological events that run from May 3 to 6. greywoodarts.org/may-sunday/

As the Celtic celebration of the arrival of summer, Bealtaine, approaches, there will be a number of celebrations of May Sunday around the country. In the East Cork town of Killeagh, the May Sunday Festival takes place from May 3-6 at the beautiful Glenbower Woods with a selection of creative and ecological events.

The May Sunday Festival in Killeagh kicks off on Friday, May 3 with the Bealtaine Procession from Greywood Arts to Glenbower Woods, to the Seed Pavilion Opening & Fire show.

There's a diverse schedule with something for every age across the Saturday, Sunday, and Bank Holiday Monday — including Here Comes the Sun! morning yoga, to cré clay workshops, dogsercise scented trails for dogs, dawn chorus walks in the woods, wreath-making, and more.

Annie Tull's 'Of the Forest Floor' art installation. greywoodarts.org/may-sunday/

There will be a number of visual art installations in Glenbower Woods also, including Annie Tull's 'Of the Forest Floor' which was most recently exhibited in New York, and now returns to Glenbower Woods where the installation was first conceived.

'Of the Forest Floor' art installation by Annie Tull

'Of The Forest Floor' was conceived while Annie Tull was in residence at Greywood Arts Centre in 2023, inspired by the artist's daily walks through Glenbower Wood. The initial concept was to create a textile that felt as though it had been dragged through the forest, collecting bits of the flora and fauna that make up this particular ecosystem. Using mixed techniques such as embroidery, wool felting, oil painting, botanical printing, and stitched/appliquéd elements, Annie has created a multi-layered textile with haunting depth and mystical whimsy that aims to feel like floating through a dream space or the memory of an afternoon lost in the woods. By building up layers of texture from ghostly eco-print to detailed embroidery, the composition evokes looking through a riverbed, discovering its hidden depths lurking beneath the water.

As an initial ground layer of the composition, Annie has used water-based inks to print impressions of the 32 varieties of leaves — such as ivy, fern, oak, and pine — collected from the Wood, onto the fabric. To add tactile depth, the next layers of felted wool and embroidery were added to the composition, along with hand-made 'leaves' and floral elements, to create ethereal swaths of terrain and bring life to the foreground of the fabric. The final layer is foraged forest elements such as moss, lichen, bark, and twigs to the fabric to make it truly "of the forest".

Now, more than half a year later, this work has returned to Glenbower and Killeagh as part of the May Sunday Festival where it will be exhibited within the context of the woodland that gave it life. The presentation is how Annie envisioned it — living and breathing and growing with the flora and fauna that inspired it in Glenbower Woods, inviting visitors to explore its hidden depths and to interact with this amazing resource of biodiversity at our doorstep here in Killeagh. Visitors are invited to share personal experiences of Glenbower Wood by writing a memory or a wish on the paper provided and pinning it to the fabric.

Jessica Bonenfant, festival organiser and creative director at Greywood Arts with Celtic goddess Noelle Ní Riagáin, Mia Milner and Eadaoin McNulty ahead of Bealtaine, the May Sunday Festival, which runs from May 3-6 at Glenbower Woods, Killeagh (East Cork). See maysunday.ie

Friday

• 20th Century Killeagh Community Photo Archive & Youth Photo Project Exhibition
• Opening Bealtaine Procession from Greywood Arts to Glenbower Wood
• Seed Pavilion Opening & Fire Show

Saturday

• Here Comes the Sun! Morning yoga with Alison Faith 10am – 11am
• Seanachai Yoga – children’s storytelling & yoga with Mandy
• Kid’s Club art workshop with Jeni Wu 1pm – 3pm
• Cré clay workshop with Siobhan Joyce
• Bealtaine trees celebration with Helena Walsh
• Photo Exhibition @ Greywood Arts 11 – 5pm

Sunday

• Dawn Chorus Walk
• Meet the Maker fair
• Imagination Station
• Picnic, music & dancing in the Seed Pavilion
• Photo Exhibition @ Greywood Arts 11 – 5pm
• Music in the pubs

Monday

• When I Was Your Age – Bealtaine Hero Award storytelling event with Noelle Ní Riagaín
• Dogsercise Adventure Dog Walks
• Wreath-Making Walk with Juna Bloom
• Photo Exhibition @ Greywood Arts 11 – 5pm
• GAA Healthy Clubs Family Fun Day