the JUKEBOX IN A VAN

In April 2023, Festival in a Van with the HSE and Mental Health Ireland funded by the Arts Council, visited Mullingar and Longford for a two-day tour to community residencies.

With poets Rachael Hegarty and Mary Melvin Geoghegan, as well as musicians Fin Furey and Emma Warren, we hosted the Juke Box Project. Clients made requests in advance for favourite poems and songs, and our amazing performers brought their audiences on a musical and poetic journey, all from our own Festival in a Van.

We have been thrilled to collaborative with the HSE and Mental Health Ireland in such a fun and collaborative way. Mental Health Ireland is the longest established mental health charity in Ireland. Throughout their history they and the Mental Health Associations have played a central role in reshaping how the public understand mental health issues. Since 1966, they have been front and centre in promoting mental health, supporting people with lived experience of mental health challenges in their recovery and bringing practical expression to national policy objectives.

Festival in a Van are delighted to continue our goal of reaching audiences who might sometimes feel marginalised from the arts, by bringing the show on the road directly to Mental Health Ireland’s clients. We are planning to continue this tour, and look forward to hearing all the requests!