Radio 1 prepares for WW1 centenary

August 4th, the 100th anniversary of the day Britain declared war on Germany, will mark the "peak" first World War centenary coverage on Radio 1, but RTÉ's commemorative activities get under way this Saturday with a WW1 Road Show event at Trinity College Dublin.

"It's a portal into all of RTÉ's coverage of World War one," says Lorelei Harris, editor of arts, features, drama and independent production at RTÉ Radio.

An edition of Sunday Miscellany will be recorded at Trinity as part of the event and will be broadcast on August 3rd, but the road show is about more than just broadcasting, according to Harris.

“This is really a public-facing event for us,” she says.

The series of activities, lectures and "pop-up seminars" is "a public-public partnership" between the university, RTÉ Radio 1 and the National Library of Ireland.

Harris says she believes the Irish public’s appetite for first World War centenary coverage is “very, very large”, particularly as it was “something that was hidden away for so long”.

Testimonies

As part of the event, Radio 1 will record family testimonies of the war in soundproof booths for broadcast in August, while

Echoes from the Front

, a 45-minute sequence of diaries, letters and music directed by the Radio 1 drama department will be performed in the Trinity College Chapel.

Lyric FM History on a Plate presenters Domini Kemp and Catherine Cleary will also be giving a cooking demonstration on the food of the first World War.

“What we have tried to do is make World War one commemorations as accessible to as many people as possible,” says Harris, “rather than turn it into something stodgy.”

For more details see rte.ie/worldwar1