On the off chance you need a break from dancing the weekend away, or if your looking to be enlightened at Electric Picnic, Mindfield is the place to go.
The spoken word arena of the festival, Mindfield has a line-up of interviews, debates, poetry and speeches that will definitely get you thinking. Here are some of the highlights you won’t want to miss.
The Rodfather
Saturday, Leviathan, 1.15-2.15pm
Paul Howard’s collaborative autobiography of football manager Roddy Collins was published last year to much acclaim (“like a Naked Gun movie but with anecdotes instead of jokes,” observed Malachy Clerkin in this newspaper), so to have a live interview between the subject and the author is a rare treat.
Three Castles Burning
Sunday, Ah, Hear! Podcast Stage, 3.45pm-4.45pm
Donal Fallon’s Three Castles Burning social history podcast specialises in stories about Dublin city, and you can guarantee that his interview with acclaimed Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick (whose work includes album covers for Thin Lizzy, and his world famous two-tone portrait of Che Guevara) will unearth many, perhaps some forgotten, gems.
The Word
Guests across the weekend, see www.electricpicnic.ie
Curated and hosted by Marty Mulligan, those featured across the weekend’s Word Stage include Templeogue poet Caoimhe Weakliam, whose poems about her favourite Dublin bus route (the 150) and the option of career as an educator (Teacher) are deft and beautifully delivered. One to watch, for sure.
Orgasm
Sunday, Ah, Hear! Podcast Stage, 1.15-1.55pm
Jenny Keane is an Irish holistic sex educator (“the orgasm queen of Ireland” claims her website) who has, we have been reliably informed, helped about 20,000 women to find their mojo, or whatever it’s called these days. To which we say, form an orderly queue, ladies.
Sunday Brunch
Sunday, Leviathan, 1.15-2.45pm
Miriam O’Callaghan’s Sunday Brunch has been a staple of Mindfield’s Leviathan tent for many years. This year’s guests include CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan and journalist Aoife Moore. You can bet your bottom Bitcoin that the Sunday newspapers will be scrutinised by O’Sullivan and Moore, marshalled as ever by O’Callaghan.
Manifesto
Guests across the weekend, see www.electricpicnic.ie
Writer Sinéad Gleeson gathers together a superb line-up of conversations and public interviews with writers, filmmakers, musicians, actors, and comedians. Sit yourself down to hear the likes of Louise Kennedy (writer), Aisling Bea (actor/comedian), Amanda Coogan (performance artist), Colm Bairéad (film director), and poet Khanyisile Mbukwane. Manifesto? Bingo, more like.
The Culchie Show
Sunday, Leviathan, 7.15pm-8.15pm
We are fairly sure that Barry Murphy’s Culchie Show has its roots in his co-created 2007 limited edition comedy series, Soupy Norman (which redrafted a Polish soap opera with a storyline about a Cork family in Dublin). Whatever – Murphy is a gold star pupil in the class of Irish comedians.
