Performing Arts Forum Newsletter- October

Hi everyone,

Hope you’re all keeping well!

In this enewsletter we’ll update you on:

• Gathering 2025 reminder that early bird tickets are closing at 5pm on Tuesday 18 March and a programme update from our curator Julie Kelleher
• Latest PAF Connects news including our upcoming event with Galway Theatre Festival on 31 March
• Our Climate Action Policy which we have just published

The Gathering 

A huge thank you to everyone who has already booked a ticket for The Gathering in Limerick on 27 & 28 May! This is set to be our largest Gathering yet, and we can’t wait to welcome you.

A few important updates:

• Our early bird tickets close at 5pm on Tuesday 18 March.
• We have secured 70 bursaries for independent practitioners to attend. Many of these have now been allocated but you can browse all the bursaries here. Thank you to all the Local Authorities and organisations supporting this initiative.
  If your organisation would like to support bursaries for your members or community to attend, there’s still time – please email paul@performingartsforum.ie.
• Accommodation in the city is filling up fast so we’d strongly suggest booking as soon as possible. Have a look at our full list for Gathering rates.
  Please note we have just added Courtbrack on campus accommodation (bookings for this open from Tuesday 18 March.)
• See below for a note from our Tuesday curator Julie Kelleher. In addition to this, The Gathering will feature plenty of networking opportunities, engaging sessions, and an exciting artistic programme—we’ll be sharing more details soon! And check out our reel of what to expect in Limerick with some footage from Sligo 2024.

A note from Julie Kelleher on her Tuesday afternoon curation 

DO NOT PANIC | ORGANISE
BUILDING COMMUNITY, TO WHAT END? 

‘At last year’s Gathering, there was a powerful sense of solidarity as we named our dissatisfaction, identifying the issues that have been troubling us in the performing arts: exclusion, precarity, funding, gig economy, burnout, AI, sustaining careers as artists and arts workers, political censorship, dysfunctional leadership in government. Since then, we have seen significant political change, locally, nationally, globally, and seen some issues grow even more troubling.

In her text responding to the 2024 event, Róisín Stack reminds us that “consensus, which assumes a single solution for all challenges, is not the goal” and that unities-in-difference and idealism are ever more necessary in difficult times.

With that in mind, this year we’ve invited a range of colleagues – artists and arts workers – from across the sector and around the country to outline a vision for their desired future of the performing arts. We know we can organise, we’re getting better and better at it, through the work of Performing Arts Forum and other resource orgs, through our unions and through the work of the NCFA.

The question now is what is the vision that we’re working towards? What does change look like? 

We invite YOU to join us to consider these visions, to collectively participate in a genuine imagining of what we want, as the community of people putting Irish-made performing arts out into the world and identify our first next steps towards change and a better future for us all.’

—- Julie Kelleher

PAF Connects 

At the heart of Performing Arts Forum is our commitment to connection—building relationships, strengthening bonds, and fostering a true sense of community within the arts. Sharing the experience of live performance is a vital part of this. With this in mind, we were delighted to launch PAF Connects last year—an initiative that brings our community together through discounted tickets and exclusive networking events.

So far, nearly 200 people have joined us for PAF Connects events at the Abbey Theatre, First Fortnight, and the Belfast Children’s Festival.

We’ve now created a dedicated PAF Connects page, where you can stay up to date on upcoming events and opportunities to connect. Our next one is in Galway with Galway Theatre Festival on 31 March and we’re busy hatching plans with Project Arts Centre, Dublin Dance Festival and Carlow Arts Festival so stay tuned for lots more info coming soon!

We are delighted to be partnering with Galway Theatre Festival for their Festival launch with a production of Chicken at the Town Hall Theatre on Monday 31 March. 

For just €14, you’ll attend a pre-show networking reception as part of the Festival Launch, and to see Chicken (as seen in Dublin Fringe Festival 2024 & winner of of Filipa Bragança Award Edinburgh Fringe 2023).

We’d love to see you there!

Climate Action Policy 

We recently published our Climate Action Policy 2025-2028

From minimising travel emissions to championing green theatre practices such as the publishing of the Theatre Green Book: Irish Edition in partnership with Green Arts Initiative in Ireland earlier this year, we are committed to shaping a more sustainable arts landscape.

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do. As a key connector in Ireland’s performing arts sector, we believe in leading by example by embedding responsible practices into our work and advocating for a greener future.

Our new Climate Action Policy sets out clear goals to:

💚 Reduce our environmental impact
💚 Support artists & organisations in adopting sustainable practices
💚 Influence positive change across the sector

We look forward to keeping you updated on our actions as they progress.

Performing Arts Forum Membership

At the core of Performing Arts Forum is the profound value of connection. It’s about the relationships that are built, the ties that are strengthened, and the sense of belonging that sustains the performing arts community. You can find out more about our background and our transition from Theatre Forum to Performing Arts Forum.

If you’re not a member already, we’d love to welcome you on board as a member. 

We are also thinking about what social media platforms we continue to use to communicate with you all.

• We have recently created a BlueSky account, which can be accessed here.
• We are most active on Instagram at the moment, so click here to keep in touch with us there!

We’ll be back in touch very soon with more updates. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or just want to say hello – we’d love to hear from you!

Very best wishes,

Irma, Eileen, Paul & Mary
Performing Arts Forum