Soul brother to bring a smile to the city

?¢ With just weeks to go until the 7th annual Dublin City Soul Festival returns to the beautiful surrounds of Merrion Square Park we caught up with founder and CEO, Chris Maher, to find out about what is going on this year.

WE meet up in the Soul Festival production office on Hatch Street in Dublin City where we are surrounded by an astonishingly beautiful array of painted instruments, including a violin completely covered in colouring pencils, but more about that later.

The first question I put to Chris is, What prompted him to set up a festival in the first place?

“I set up the Soul Festival in 2007 just before the economic meltdown when I discovered a serious decline in tourist traffic to Ireland. I wanted to create an event that would be a showcase for Ireland and our wealth of musical talent, an event that could be a magnet to valuable cultural tourists from around the globe.

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What is the Soul Festival about?

“We are Ireland’s feel-good festival, designed to make people smile and feel good. Given everything that’s going on from an economic standpoint I feel the opportunity for family and friends to gather together in a positive celebration is more important than ever.

Tell us about the Soul Picnic?

“The Soul Picnic is a little piece of magic in the heart of the city. Imagine sitting on your picnic blanket surrounded by family and friends, the sweet smell of BBQ wafting through the air as the music spills out of the massive speakers and across the park to the delight of the huge audience – sounds like summer to us!

How much does it cost?

“The Soul Picnic is free to attend, though we do ask adults to make a donation before they leave. All the money collected goes to children’s charity the Musical Youth Foundation which helps at-risk children access music education and all its associated life changing benefits.

Back to the pencil covered violin, what’s that all about?

?Following a call for instrument donations in 2012 we received a lot of old and broken instruments which were beyond musical use. I just couldn’t face throwing them out so we came up with the idea of asking some of Ireland’s best known musicians, designers and artists to transform them.

“We were totally blown away by the standard of the pieces coming back, and there really are some amazing creations including the Philo guitar which features the music legend on the face of the instrument.

“We’ll have a selection of the pieces on display in the park so come down and check them out or visit our charity website at www.myf.ie to see the 15 pieces included in our raffle.

“We’ll also be auctioning some of the guitars in partnership with our friends at StubHub. The auction open on www.stubhubcharityauctions.co.uk.

The 7th annual Dublin City Soul Festival takes place in Merrion Square Park on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26 from 12pm – 6pm. For more information visit www.soul.ie