Ireland says 'YES' as Ulyssess celebrations set for Derry and Donegal

YES, Ireland’s first all-female festival, is coming to Derry and Donegal this summer. This unique event will take place at various locations across the Northwest of Ireland, showcasing the incredible talent of female artists and performers from across Europe.

Running from 13th – 16th June, the four-day festival will feature over 40 events and more than 30 female artists from the nations involved in the ULYSSES European Odyssey project. These artists will join their Irish and British counterparts in a diverse range of events, including dance, music, film, art, literature, street arts, and more.

The YES festival marks the first time that 'Bloomsday’, the celebrations centred around James Joyce’s Ulysses, will extend beyond Dublin.

Inspired by Joyce’s most famous female character, Molly Bloom, the festival is the culmination of a two-year European journey across 18 cities, representing the 18 chapters in the book. This journey marks the centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s epic novel Ulysses in Paris in 1922.

Selected highlights of the YES festival include:

• No Ordinary Women: A five-part series of discussions on topics such as Women & Leadership, Women & Power, Women & Resistance Women & Media and Women & Climate Justice. Featured speakers include President Mary Robinson, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, Orla Guerin, Marion McKeone, Miriam O’Callaghan, and Martina Devlin.
• The Molly Bed: A specially commissioned public artwork by Derry designer Tracey Lindsay.
• O Rocks! A concert of music, conversation, and poetry by one of Ireland’s most celebrated artists, Imelda May.

Seán Doran, YES festival producer and co-curator is thrilled to be able to bring the event to the Northwest of Ireland. He commented: “The final episode of Ulysses begins and ends with the word 'yes'.

"This inspired us to take Joyce’s Dublin-based story north to Derry and Donegal, where ‘yes’ is a common greeting.

“The festival will be packed with a variety of exciting events over the four days. Just over 100 years after the publication of Ulysses, we are delighted to be giving Molly Bloom the limelight and hope this marks the beginning of an annual ‘Bloomsday’ up north.”

Vsit www.yesderry.com for information and festival tickets.