One night for all: LGBTQ+ choir takes the stage at Mayo's Culture Night 2025
Culture Night is a nationwide event now in its twentieth year. This Friday will see more than 40 events scheduled across Mayo celebrating arts, community and heritage. The programme includes live music, exhibitions, late openings and community events in towns and villages throughout the county.
The Michael Davitt Museum in Straide, Foxford, will host the west of Ireland’s only LGBTQ+ choir this Friday, September 19, as part of Mayo’s Culture Night programme. There will be an Irish Sign Language interpreter on the night.
Sing Out West was formed in 2022 and is directed by Michael K. Burke, who previously performed with the London Gay Men’s Chorus, alongside the musical tutelage of Joseph Garvey.
The choir is part of Out West, a voluntary social, support and advocacy group for the LGBTQ+ community, which has been active in Mayo and the west of Ireland since 1997.
The group serves as a safe space for members of the community to meet together in an open and friendly atmosphere where they can discuss group events and LGBTQ+ issues. They recently opened a drop-in centre in Castlebar.
Culture Night is promoted nationally as One Night for All, highlighting inclusion and access to the arts. The addition of Sing Out West to Mayo’s line-up reflects the event’s focus on celebrating diversity and making culture available to everyone, regardless of background or identity.
The programme of events on Friday will take place around Mayo from 4pm until late.
In Ballina, the Laneways and Sessions event, organised by the Ballina Arts Centre and Event Audio Visual with the Jackie Clarke Collection and Ballina Library, will see the town’s laneways host a range of live performers between 9pm and 11pm. Events begin earlier in the evening at the Jackie Clarke Museum, before continuing through Ballina’s historic streets.
Castlebar will host ‘Castlebar Sings Again: Celebrating Margaret Burke Sheridan’ from 7pm, followed by a late-night trail with live music, trad sessions and storytelling from 9pm.
The National Museum of Ireland Country Life in Turlough will also open late from 6pm to 9pm, offering free access to the National Folklife Collection, which showcases life in rural Ireland through crafts, trades, farming, fishing, textiles and community traditions.
Other events in Mayo include a Culture Night programme in Balla, a food and drink tour in Claremorris, and a Multicultural Night in Westport organised by the local Family Resource Centre.
Culture Night is an initiative of the Arts Council of Ireland and will see hundreds of free events take place across the country, celebrating culture, creativity and inclusion. In Mayo, the programme is delivered with the support of Mayo County Council and Creative Ireland.
A full list of local events and times is available on www.culturenight.ie
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.