Hunters Moon

Rising Damp is an experimental band whose sound fuses experimental music, EBM, and post punk. Known for their unconventional performances, they're no stranger to underground shows in tunnels, underpasses, and social centres. Led by visual artist Michelle Doyle, she is joined by Ivan Pawle on synth/guitar and Sarah Grimes on drums. Their songwriting delves into subjects as diverse as brutalist architecture, cannibalism, intimate encounters with a motorbike, and thought-provoking themes of corporate metaphor and innovation.

HowlBux is the project of composer and musician Irene Buckley and Elaine Howley who create atmospheric textures with ghosted vocals and synths. Sometimes pop, sometimes improvisational and exploratory, HowlBux creates atmospheres from the serene and hypnotic, to the dense and immersive. Recent performances include soundtracking Sara Baume's The Alphabet of Birds (Holy Show Productions) and a special commission for Dublin Digital Radio’s Alternating Current. HowlBux’s 2022 release on Moot Tapes gives a flavor of their sound, and they are currently working to record and release their first album.

Mohammad Syfkhan is a singer and bouzouki player originally from Syria, now based in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim. He blends songs and music from various traditions from the Middle East and North Africa to create his own blend of ecstatic party music. He includes some modern takes of traditional and folkloric Kurdish songs, as well as some original music of his own in his live performance. His debut album will be coming out on Nyahh Records in Autumn 2023 titled I am Kurdish.

Diarmuid MacDiarmada has been active in the Irish art and music scene for three decades in a plethora of bands and settings including The Tycho Brahe, The Jimmy Cake, and many others. Currently based in Sligo, he is a co-founder of the ArdVoltas Arts group and performs with Rún, Gulpt, The Secret Sonic Cinematheque, and with Tara Baoth Mooney among other obscure activities. His solo work as a performer involves exploring methods of trance induction, deep immersion in sound, and the bridging of the visible world to the invisible through ritual.

The Leitrim Larks Project is being led by renowned traditional singer Fionnuala Maxwell and aims to celebrate, rediscover, and revive traditional songs from Leitrim by engaging both established singers across the county and by engaging and facilitating individual members of the public to discover and sing these Leitrim songs.

BRRR BRRR BRRR is a DIY pop-up record fair celebrating independent record shops, labels, and producers on the island of Ireland. Organised by musician/artist Taf Hassam (Warmer Climes), expect buckets of music, bargain deals, and a range of second-hand records and tapes.

The Piper’s Grip is a tender and reverent account of the homoerotics of an Irish music session. A live reading featuring a live soundtrack, in the tradition of Irish musical bawdry, this story portrays a man’s ecstatic reconnection with his culture, and in turn with himself. Featuring Eimear Walshe as orator, Ultan O'Brien on fiddle, plus special guest.

Cathal Roche has been at the forefront of producing innovative, new music in Ireland for the last fifteen years, and continues to build a reputation at home and abroad as a creative saxophonist extending techniques and devising new compositional mediums. For this event, he will respond to the atmosphere and acoustics of the lobby in The Dock in his own minimalist and long-form style.

Dublin-based, Chicago-born Queen Beatz needs no introduction. She is part of the mighty Sim Simma crew and affiliated with some of the country's most notorious collectives. She has played all over the country in venues and festivals. Queen Beatz is a versatile DJ who never sticks to one genre. Her sets are always fun and imaginative.

A mix of African, Jamaican Dance Hall, Middle Eastern Dabke and dance music to keep you on the floor 'til the wee hours.

Sukie Zines is a queer, DIY library dedicated to archiving zines and making them available for the community to read. Our catalogue covers a variety of themes including gender, sexual orientation, race, decolonization, disability, mental health, sex and consent, feminism, anarchism, arts, and culture. We're an educational project which strives to create and take space for marginalised folks, and organise fun, queer, and inclusive community events in Sligo and around rural NW Ireland.

Sukie Zines will provide a small lounge space with our collection displayed on our bike trailer library. Festival-goers wanting to unwind can stop in and browse our zines at their leisure.

More information about the workshop here.

Culture on the move! The Ecliptic of Culture Newsstand is a Dublin-based fanzine stall that moves around the country visiting events with its portable newsstand of zines, bits and bobs.