Dawn and Dusk Chorus

As part of the Bealtine Festival, Dawn and Dusk choruses choirs all around the country to have gotten involved in this wonderful event, to make it even bigger and better in 2022.

The Dawn Chorus is a nationwide event developed following an extraordinary debut on the Culdaff beach in Donegal in May 2009. In 2010, Sing Ireland and Active Retirement Ireland developed a partnership with the Bealtaine Festival designed to bring choirs, active retirement groups and older people together across Ireland to participate in the Dawn Chorus.

The Dawn Chorus is a choral event in which older people come together with a choir in their locality and sing at Dawn/Dusk in a scenic area, ideally beside water and always outdoors.

It is a chance for choirs to sing at Dawn/Dusk on the first/last Sunday in May and join people all over Ireland and beyond in a unique and uplifting event. Involvement with choirs has been regarded as one of the most established and effective means of artistic and community involvement.The Bealtaine Dawn/Dusk Chorus events can be held in person or online and can be designed in a way that suits every choir's needs. The guidelines are simple:

• Older people should be central to the planning and included in the choir
• Host your Dawn Chorus event at Dawn or soon after on Sunday, May 1^st
• Host your Dusk Chorus event around sunset on Sunday, May 29^th
• If you are holding the event in person, try to pick a location near water.
• If you are holding the event online, share it far and wide!
• Pick songs you know and love
• Tell us about it!

How to get involved

1. Call or e-mail to find out more and to receive a handy How-To guide that takes you through running a Dawn or Dusk Chorus step by step. Get in touch with our coordinator for the project, Louisa Woods, by phoning 0871009521 on Tuesday or Thursday (10.30 am-2.30 pm) or by emailing her - bealtaine1@ageandopportunity.ie

2. Remember to register your event on our website - http://bealtaine.ie/page/register - so you can share it online. 3. Record your event by taking photos or videos and sharing on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram) and use the hashtags #bealtainedawn22 or #bealtainedusk22 so we can share it too! (All this info is also in the How To guide.)