Lisa Connolly Owner of Finders Keepers – The Store, talks to Aileen Lee.

Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year

Bernadette Kiely’s proximity to the Nore has had a huge influence on her art, writes Marjorie Brennan.

1. Crime Writers

It’s time to let the imagination run wild in Waterford as the 15th annual Imagine arts festival kicks off in style this week.

An industrial school and Magdalene laundry in Waterford City and the people who lived in those institutions will be commemorated in word and performance next month as part of Imagine Arts Festival.

Cathy Desmond rounds up the best opera and classical events coming up in Ireland and further afield

IRELAND is one of the few countries in Europe to have held on to its rich tradition of legends, customs and stories. We have perhaps the richest storehouse, in both documentary sources and memory, a heritage for which we are justly envied.

ONE does not associate traditional music with Waterford in the way one does with the heartlands of Miltown Malbay or Cúil Aodha, but the thriving trad scene in the city reflects the healthy state of the genre in Ireland.

Ten days of Irish and international talent is in the offing for Waterford as part of the 13th annual Imagine Arts Festival which kicks off next month.

To keep an arts festival going in some of the toughest economic conditions this country has ever witnessed is an achievement in itself.

Come hail, rain or shine this October Bank Holiday Weekend, there’s an abundance of festivals taking place all over the country.

MYSTERY surrounds the origin and meaning of a colourful piece of graffiti which has turned up on Waterford’s famous Mount Misery.