Earagail Arts Festival Celebrates 20 Years

Four Irish Premiere Shows in the 2008 Line Up

The 2008 Earagail Arts Festival, which runs from the 10th to the 20th July, has released details of this year's headline acts.

The organisers are offering a sneak preview of this years festival which is heralded to be the kingpin programme of its 20 year history.

According to Programme Director, Paul Brown, "We are delighted to announce that we have four new commissions and Irish premieres this year. 2008 also marks our 20th Birthday so we have brought in some extra features and high profile acts to mark the occasion.

"We have a line-up to match any red carpet event and we are anticipating early demand for this year's shows so we decided to go with an early announcement on some of our headline acts. That said, we'll have quite a few more very special events up our sleeve to announce at a later date," said Paul.

The Earagail Arts Festival attracts 35,000 people to Donegal each year. It is the only festival of its kind in Ireland to extend to an entire county, is the third largest festival in the country after Galway and Kilkenny and contributes over €1million euro to the local economy, with increased bed nights reported by local hoteliers during the event. It also increases capacity in hotels in the less populated centres in Donegal bringing new tourists and the prospect of repeat visits. Moreover, 50% of the events are free to the public making it family-friendly and accessible to all.

The 2008 Headline Acts are:

Hit The North Weekender on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th July with post-punk legends The Fall and Mercury Music Prize/Brit Award nominee Richard Hawley, with a special festival weekend ticket and accommodation deals to match.

Sensazione: The 2008 Irish tour of Sensazione is a co-production between Cork Mid Summer Festival, Clonmel Junction Festival and Earagail Arts Festival. A human powered funfair that runs off your energy. A high octane carnival that's a cross between a night at the circus and the thrill of the funfair. This festival runs on human power and demands the input of the audience. It is also an eco-friendly spectacle with only high emission levels of fun! Thursday 17th - Sunday 20th, Letterkenny Town Park.

Victor Vasarely Retrospective The Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny will host another ground breaking international exhibition focusing on the founder of OpArt, Victor Vasarely. Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny.

A Midsummer Nights Dream, a local cast directed by renowned Irish director David Grant in a major new production of Shakespeares' finest comedic work, commissioned by the Earagail Arts Festival, An Grianan Theatre and Donegal County Council. Thursday 10th - Sunday 13th July, An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny.

An Cosan Glas/Victor Gama, linking the Irish and Portugese seaboards, a new collaborative festival commission between Portugese artist and musician Victor Gama and the creators of the Lionnir midnight sculpture trail An Cosan Glas to construct a public interactive sound sculpture. Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th, Magheroarty Beach, Gortahork.

Donal Lunny, a new composition by one of Ireland's foremost traditional music legends commissioned by the festival, celebrated and performed in four outstanding concerts including a stellar guest line up to include Moya Brennan, Mairead Mooney, Liam O'Flynn, Andy Irvine, Paddy Glackin. Various, County Donegal.

For advance information on the forthcoming festival sign up to their mailing list at www.eaf.ie. For advance bookings on the headline acts book online at www.angrianan.com or call the festival box office on 074-9120777.