In the days since #allingham2015, we have received so much positive feedback. The variety of content has gone down well and this years lineup offered something for everyone. The mix of Helen (Art) and William Allingham (literary) is starting to gel and we already have plans to improve things for next year.
You may have viewed some of the highlights on social media and we will have a gallery up soon on our homepage www.allinghamfestival.com.
There is one group that we would like to say ‘Adieu’ to (in an official capacity at least), and that is the students and staff of #designatmagee. The Allingham Festival committee received a collection of 10 second short clips from the students that directly addressed their feelings about the course and the current cuts at Magee, Ulster and across the higher education sector in NI.
If you attended the Friday afternoon/evening ‘Inspire Creativity - Engage Enterprise’ events, you will have felt the positivity that this cohort brings to our town and this festival. We collated a best of #designatmagee at #allingham to follow the student clips and as you will see, they brought a wealth of creativity and a vibrant creative culture which we have no doubt, has helped grow this festival to its new levels.
From what we have heard, the course has been a victim of the cuts and the ship has already sailed. We cannot understand the thinking behind this, as the outreach and civic engagement of this relationship has inspired so many and resulted in a multitude of highly creative projects and cross border collaborations, including employment and internships with a world leading VFX company SpinVFX in Toronto for a Strabane man, an Enniskillen woman and a Ballyshannon native.
The ‘Era Of The Scissors’ as the Wood Burning Savages put it, is most definitely upon us and we are sorry to see the sword fall on such a vibrant cohort of staff & students.
We want to wish the past and present staff and students the very best for the future, and extend an open invite to them all to visit the #allingham Festival and Ballyshannon whenever they please. We are sure that whatever they do next will be worth watching and we hope to see them back to showcase new ideas, ventures & creative thinking in 2016 and beyond.
They arrived in 2011, they left in 2015. They left their mark.
Adieu to Design At Magee. Here are your #bestbits.
The Allingham Festival
“Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.”
Seamus heaney