Momentum Arts and Heritage Festival gets great response from community

MOMENTUM 2021 was a one-off, outdoor, community arts and heritage festival held in the towns of Rush and Lusk over one wonderful weekend last month.

At the heart of the festival, which took place on August 14 and 15, was a series of outdoor dramatic performances, written and performed by local writers on The Green Belt Arts Project.

Highlights of the festival included the Green Belt trilogy ‘Home, Land and Sea’ which took place at sites from Kenure Demesne to Drumanagh, guided ‘walkabouts’ in both towns, where audiences were introduced to characters from past and present Fingal, an exhibition of photos and videos of Lusk in times gone by and a play staged on a football pitch featuring the story of the great Rush sporting hero, Con Martin.

Pictured left to right: Rebecca Cowley Peters, Emily MacKenzie Roach, Sean McBride, Isabel Bold

In the evenings, there was informal music and chat in the local outdoor dining and hospitality settings.

“Momentum 2021 was a great success,” Sabrina Morris, PRO of Momentum Committee told Northside People.

“Such a positive response was received from the community, we’re delighted.

“15 people between the ages of 18 and 70 began this journey in August 2020.

“On August 14 and 15 over 100 community performers and offstage volunteers took part in the public art event, with dozens more involved in the wider Momentum 2021 festivities.

“The age range of the performers was from 8 to 68+.

“The project was inclusive with performers and volunteers of diverse ethnic, gender and ability backgrounds.”

Pictured left to right: Loraine Power, Sophie Ryan, Keeva McLoughlin, Lillyann Shevlin, Erin Russell Hughes

Sabrina explained how The Green Belt Arts Initiative was established.

“In 2019, theatre artist Declan Gorman began a process of research and meetings with community and educational interests in the Lusk-Rush-Skerries area to explore options for an innovative public performance project,” she said.

“The aim was to engage with individuals and groups in the area to collaborate with the artist in re-imagining their own home area, its history, landscape and contemporary social life through drama, dance and song.

“Arising from this, The Green Belt Arts Initiative was established at a public meeting in August 2020 at the Millbank Theatre in Rush.

“Scheduled between the end of the first and the beginning of the second waves of Covid 19, this meeting saw 24 interested individuals take part in a “Town Hall” presentation and conversation about aspects of the heritage of Rush and Lusk, from farming to fishing, from hidden women’s histories to the advent of inward migration.”

Momentum 2021 was supported by Fingal C C and undertaken in partnership with community and voluntary groups in Lusk and Rush, including Rush Dramatic Society; Lusk Heritage Group; Power Drama School; Acting Up Early Years Arts and Declan Gorman Arts & Events