First Fortnight returns for January 

AN annual mental health arts festival which returns nationwide this January will host the world premiere of the concert ‘How Aria?’. 

First Fortnight, who organise the two-week-long festival, teamed up with Irish National Opera and St Patrick’s Mental Health services to present the festival’s first opera in its nine-year history.

The partnership has seen service users of St Patrick’s collaborate with Irish National Opera Composer and spoken word artist, and First Fortnight writer, Stephen James Smith, to create this new concert which will have its world premiere at St Patrick’s University Hospital on Sunday, January 12.

First Fortnight began as a singular event in 2009 and aimed to increase discussion and understanding of mental health problems and challenge stigma and discrimination. 

The event proved hugely successful and was held again in a larger capacity the following year, and finally was launched as the First Fortnight festival in 2011.

Now in its 10th year, there will be 119 events in 17 counties across 62 venues, held as part of the festival with the central themes this year being loneliness, isolation and community.

Chief executive of First Fortnight David Keegan spoke to Southside People about the importance of the festival.

"We have always seen First Fortnight as the antidote to the themes we decided to focus on within this year’s festival programme,” he said. 

“It's through community driven initiatives like First Fortnight, the opportunity is created to extend an invitation for connection to address feelings of loneliness and isolation, which we all experience but also heavily stigmatised just like mental health.”

First Fortnight Programme Co-ordinator Edel Doran echoed this sentiment. 

“One person can always make a difference and as one community, we can make a profound impact,” said Ms Doran.

This year the community will be even greater as First Fortnight 2020 sees an increased number of participatory workshop events catering for a variety of ages and interests around the country. 

This includes Seedlings Early Years workshops led by The Ark’s Early Years Artists in Residence, Joanna Parkes, which will incorporate drama to help 2-4 year olds to explore how to cope when things go wrong.

The charity is also partnering with libraries around the country in 2020. A number of libraries will be hosting First Fortnight themed events which can be found in the festival programme on the website. 

However, many more have chosen to shine a light on mental health-related books including factual texts, brilliant works of fiction and helpful information books that will open up a discussion around mental health.

While approximately 45 of the 119 events are free, any proceeds earned will go back into funding the work of First Fortnight which runs a Centre for Creative Therapies.

This centre provides an art psychotherapy and music therapy service to adults with experience of homelessness or at risk of homelessness or to other partnering charities including Mental Health Reform and the Tiny Changes Foundation.

The organisers said they were honoured to have Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly with them to officially launch the First Fortnight 2020 programme at Dublin Chamber of Commerce HQ.

Speaking at the launch Minister Daly said: “With First Fortnight Mental Health Arts Festival 2020 shining an additional spotlight on the area of loneliness, isolation and community, it serves us all with the perfect duty of care to ourselves and each other, one of inclusiveness.  

“This is a fitting focus for the festival which over its nine years has been a central fixture in our annual calendar during January, the time of year when sadly, statistics show loneliness at its most prevalent.”

Tickets and a full line up of events are available at www.firstfortnight.ie