Bernice Harrisonon alternatives to movies and the mall
Westport Arts Festival Co Mayo
Westport won this year's Tidy Town competition - for the second time in three years, which raises the bar for everyone else and is a pretty good reason to have a look at what a community effort can do to make the environment better for everyone. The Co Mayo town's annual arts festival has been going on all week. For families, multivenue, multidisciplinary events in a relatively small town have to be a big hit, because you can spend the day wandering from art exhibitions to music events without too much planning and without committing to staying in one place for too long. There'll be plenty of street entertainment this weekend. Listen out today for the Solau drummers and keep an eye out for a couple of giant butterflies. Older kids in particular will enjoy the Town of Tomorrowexhibition, at locations throughout town as part of the festival's ArtTrail. This shows the entries from a competition for which local students used a combination of the Westport3Digital town model and GoogleSketchUp to create their vision of the future. Pick up a brochure at any of the venues or see www.westportartsfestival.com.
Don't missA (free) 15- minute shadow-puppet show, Amarty's Journey, at Holy Trinity School, Newport Road; 1pm, 1.45pm and 2.30pm.
Book intoChildren's Mask Workshop for kids aged five to seven, incorporating make and do as well as drama. Old Mill Holiday Hostel, James Street, €5, bookings on 087-9721180.
WhenThe festival ends tomorrow.