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Fota House & Gardens News & Events

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Thursday, August 25, 2005

Fota House - Closed due to no ESB

Fota House will be closed on:

Thursday 8th September 05

From 9.00a.m - 4.00p.m. approx

Due to electricity shutdown, this is to facilitate development work in the area.

We are sorry for an inconvenience caused.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Big Picnic

Where’s Me Culture? & Prime:Time Proudly Present

Big Picnic
Fota House and Gardens, Fota Island, Cork.
Sunday 14th August, 12 – 6 pm
by bike or train: Free Admission
Family Ticket: €10 euro

Amani Acrobats - Art Trail - Bar-B-Q - Bouncy Castle – Céile - Cork Community Circus – Cork Greenmap - Cowboys & Indians – Donkey Sanctuary - 18 Turns - Face Painting - Farmers Market – Feel Well - Fun Sport – Juggling - Live Music - Mr Crow & Co - Pottery Painting - Puppet Show – Snatch Comedy Improv. - Storytelling – Slow Food - Tea Rooms - Teddy Bears Picnic – Theatre - V e h i c l e – Whazon Info & much, much mór…

Big Picnic, brought to you by Where’s Me Culture? in association with Prime:Time and supported by media sponsors 96FM, is an open invitation to come and enjoy a fresh, fun-filled, family-oriented day of events and activities in the beautiful natural surrounds of Fota House and Arboretum on a summer Sundays afternoon in August.

An inclusive, broadly-appealing and colourful public event, Big Picnic offers an opportunity for people to gather together to take their leisure, and in so doing become active participants in celebrating what is a very special year of culture for Cork, her citizens and visitors alike.

Tell Me More?
A summer picnic in a place as peaceful, beautiful and historic as Fota House and her gorgeous gardens – what could be better? In addition to all that this wonderful location has to offer, including Daniel Leibiskind’s amazing 18 Turns structure in situ on the front lawn, Where’s Me Culture? has endeavoured to include as wide a variety of events and attractions as possible. Just some of these include:

Amani Acrobats: Highlights of this year’s Paddy’s Day Parade, the incredibly entertaining Amani Acrobat team promise sensational somersaults, twists and flips.

Art Trail: In association with Cork-based visual artists, an area of the grounds will display artwork in innovative and exciting ways.

Bar-B-Q: Enjoy sizzling barbecue delights in the hot ‘n’ spicy ‘jerk’ Jamaican-style.

Bouncy Castle: Let your babies bounce all day!

Cork Community Circus: The terrific homegrown talents of Mr Crow & Co bring all manner of top tricks, juggling feats and all round clownish behaviour.

Cowboys & Indians: Play area for ‘smallies’ around Native American tepee and hay bales.

Donkey Sanctuary: Dermot the donkey will be showing his (long) face and will be looked after by his carers and handlers from The Donkey Sanctuary in Doneraile.

18 Turns: Explore Daniel Leibiskind’s eye-catching 18 Turns on the front lawn. Expect some Céile dancing and leppin’ tunes inside too.

Face-Painting: Always a firm favourite with the ‘smallies.’ Get a cowboy face done and send them on up to the tepee for some cowboy tomfoolery.

Farmers Market: Series of diverse stalls selling fresh mouth-watering morsels and fairly traded coffee and tea.

Feel Well: An area devoted to alternative therapies and exercise: anything from Indian head massage to reiki, yoga, tai chi, Capoeira and more.

Fun Sport: Enjoy egg & spoon, 3-legged and sack races perhaps even some tug-of-war too.

Live Music: Diverse programme of fun feel-good musical vibrations from a variety of artists and djs –nothing too hectic though!

Nature Walks: Find out more about the special soil at Fota, which allows a huge diversity of plants to thrive, on a nature walk revealing the stories behind the trees.

Pottery Painting: Pottery painting lessons for the kids – parents choose and buy ceramics, kids paint ‘em and keep ‘em – also baby painted footprints too!

Puppet Show: Dowtcha Puppets will be popping up on the day for a show or two.

Snatch Comedy Improvisation: Cork’s cracking comedy team coming down to add to the fun on the day – expect lots of laughs!

Storytelling: Lore and legend passed down through the generations by the foot of a big oak tree.

Teddy Bears Picnic: Bring your bear, spread out the rug, sit back and enjoy!

Theatre: Cork’s Luvius theatre group will perform selections from their acclaimed ‘Corkonians’ ensemble piece based on tales of Leeside legend and lore.

V e h i c l e - A Mobile Art Venture: Wmc’s big blue bus will be on site all day.

Please note that there is no connection between Big Picnic at Fota House and Gardens and Fota Wildlife Park - Fota Wildlife Park is open as normal to all who wish to visit and for usual admission prices - Admission to Big Picnic does not include entrance to Wildlife Park nor any discount

Who? Where’s Me Culture? is a creative collective initiative brought about to encourage, facilitate, support and instigate colourful arts, music and cultural events and projects throughout this year of culture and beyond.

Contact:
Joe Kelly – 086 8399678 Dave Mac Ardle - 087 2766555
joe@wheresmeculture.com davemac@wheresmeculture.com

Want to get involved? info@wheresmeculture.com or call 021 - 4323649








Contact:
Joe Kelly – 087 8399678 Dave Mac Ardle - 087 2766555
joe@wheresmeculture.com davemac@wheresmeculture.com

Want to get involved? info@wheresmeculture.com or call 021 - 4323649

Contact Us: Fota Island, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork, Ireland.
Tel: +353 (0)21 4815543 Fax: +353 (0)21 4815541
Email: info@fotahouse.com