Out in the open

SO FAR, so very good is the verdict on the split-level “festival of the senses” in Cork this year – split-level in that previous director William Galinsky left early this year and his successor, Tom Creed, took over early this month, with Kath Gorman holding the programme together in the interim.

There is a consciousness of fewer events but the consensus is that this hasn’t affected quality, although people are wondering if the Spiegeltent has come to the end of its shelf-life.

They're not the people who raved all last week about the West Cork Ukelele Orchestra, which rivalled Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia's open-air rendition of Puccini's Tosca.Conducted by Zubin Mehta, it brought more than 1,000 people to FitzGerald Park on a balmy summer evening.

Festival of the senses indeed, with picnic hampers, flower-filled gardens and an atmosphere to rival Glyndebourne setting the pace for the events of the first week.

Without dictating style or content, there is a sense that youth is at the helm, as seen in the response to Solstice, where young curators present the work of emerging and experimental artists in the former Fás building.

It also serves as a kind of conversational hub, with people sitting around a little coffee-bar, perhaps watching a dance piece or wandering at will through the different exhibition spaces.