After all you’re my wonderwall!

Waterford last weekend was a heady mix of colour, sunshine, Bluegrass and crowds of people. The late summer weather brought people out of their homes and attracted many a day visitor from across the south east region, to the City and County, to see and experience, two most diverse of festivals.

The 22^nd International Bluegrass Festival, took place in the picturesque village of Dunmore East and has been around, ehmm, for a number for years. This niche celebration, helps to extend the tourist season for the village, by incorporating a significant festival, into the last weekend prior to the “schools going back!”

Blue skies, “warm” Atlantic waters and very busy beaches all added to the festival’s flavour. This in turn attracted families, by the hundreds, and such is the compact geometry of the village, that mum, dad and the bairns, really could find something for everyone over the weekend. There were very few tears and tantrums as the Bluegrass delivered in spades and our home-grown Olympian, Mr Thomas Barr, added to the colourful mix by making a special guest appearance.

In the City, we were once again treated to a riot of colour, as unloved walls, gable ends and derelict buildings ALL received the Waterford Walls treatment. For once the local Garda turned a blind eye to the graffiti artists, whose canvases were quite literally a blank brick or rough plastered wall.

The event, is now in its second year and has grown significantly since 2015, with around 40 murals being created this year. It is a form of street art that delivers huge impact and sparks wild debate around the suitability of the finished piece. It is this unadulterated pure expression of the mind, that makes Waterford Walls work.

In addition to the many Irish artists, we have seen talented people from all around the world, including Brazil, Mexico and Australia, come to Waterford to leave their mark on our streetscape. Their legacy will be left for at least twelve months for us to view, like, dislike, criticise, applaud and debate.

That is what art delivers for us, the ordinary Joe Soap, the non creative people of this world, who see a piece of art and say “I could do that!” But the fact is that we could not do better and it is the art we are looking that has stimulated our mind to actually think!

“All the roads you have to walk are winding...”

As you wander around the City over the next few weeks, take time to seek out and look at the art that Waterford Walls has delivered. I guarantee, that should you that pass the same piece again, you will see a completely different perspective. Each time you view the work of the artists, possibly gravitating towards your favourites, you will be stimulated to think that little bit differently, as you view them in a new context. That is what art delivers by the bucket load.

The Waterford Walls project is without doubt one of the events that we need to support with increased funding. Any increase in public funding does of course come with the caveat of transparency and accountability. But there can be no doubt that this project has longevity, the ability to grow in both size and popularity.

Waterford, last weekend, was a national news story, for ALL the right reasons. It is that type of publicity that we need to court and demand if we are to move the City forward. We have legacy issues with very poor political clout and it will take years to redress this imbalance.

In the meantime, we must focus on what we are good at and we must seek out the events and festivals that are worth their weight in gold and start backing these.

With 2017 just around the corner, our summer in the City and County should have a beginning, middle and an end. With lots of smaller “support events” taking place in between three cornerstone events of significant scale.

PS. Sceptical, I am NOT! Opinionated, YES! Passionate about Waterford – NEVER A DOUBT!