Macnas Makes Cork Debut This Weekend as SpaceFest Takes Off
Macnas makes Cork debut this Sunday at Marina Market for SpaceFest, featuring giant puppets, stilt walkers and a week of cosmic events across the city.
Galway's renowned spectacle performers Macnas will make their Cork premiere this Sunday at Marina Market as part of SpaceFest, the week-long festival celebrating the intersection of art, science and space across Cork city and county.
SpaceFest launches this Saturday, 8th November, with a stellar programme of events, experiments, tours and workshops at venues including Marina Market, Blackrock Castle Observatory, The Liberty, Greywood Arts and UCC.
The highlight of the opening weekend sees Macnas take to Marina Market on Sunday, 9th November. The performance features a vibrant troupe of drummers, stilt walkers and giant puppets telling a powerful story about biodiversity and the gradual disappearance of the corncrake across Ireland. The distinctive bird's decline serves as a poignant reminder of the urgent need to protect habitats and biodiversity.
Following the performance, a Macnas moon installation will remain at Marina Market as part of Lunar Distance, an exhibition featuring a galactic array of art and science running until 12th November. Visitors can learn what cows have to do with satellites, listen to voice notes from space, record their own message for the stars, and see a tiny sculpture that orbited Earth on board the International Space Station.
On Sunday evening, Blackrock Castle Observatory hosts Beyond the Visible, an evening of astronomy, art and alcohol. Astrophysicist and mixologist Dr Alfredo Carpineti will dive into a colourful exploration of galactic phenomena, turning Venus into a disco ball, painting the audience in blacklight, and serving up Sagittarius B2 cocktails inspired by the taste of a nebula. Artist Helen O'Keefe will respond in real time, sketching visual interpretations and inviting the audience to join in with hands-on materials.
Wednesday, 12th November brings Taking Up Space to Cork County Cricket Club on Mardyke Walk. The evening features a lively trio of queer artists and scientists, blending discussion, drag performance, Equality BINGO and a Family Fortunes-style quiz using data gathered live from the audience. Drag Queen Jeanie Mac, a diva by night and scientist with an MSc in Synthetic Chemistry by day, will MC the event alongside Dr Alfredo Carpineti, astrophysicist and founder of Pride in STEM, and Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh, an artist and researcher whose work explores rural queer existence in Ireland.
The festival concludes on Thursday, 14th November, when music collective Audio Research Corporation brings together DJs, producers and visual artists for Space Twist at The Liberty Bar from 8pm. The cosmic mix of music, dance and cocktails includes the chance to Adopt-An-Alien, with free entry.
Funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland and run by Greywood Arts, SpaceFest encourages more than 6,500 visitors each year to explore space through science, technology, engineering, art and maths.
