By Eleanor Treacy
A new festival celebrating Oscar Wilde could transform the streets of Enniskillen into a stage, bringing the writer’s legacy to life while attracting visitors across the world.
The border town where Wilde spent his schooldays and which inspired his most famous short story, The Happy Prince, will see nearly 50 performances across Enniskillen in a community-led celebration on Saturday 17 October, the weekend of Wilde’s 162nd birthday.
The event was kick-started with the help of an award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Heritage Innovation Fund to charity Happy Days EIBF to support literary heritage activism in Enniskillen – based on 15 years of festivals, events and artworks embedding Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde into Enniskillen’s literary heritage.
WildeDay, programmed by Dr John McCann, a long-standing figure in Enniskillen’s dramatic arts community for more than 40 years, the idea is based on Dublin’s hugely popular Bloomsday Festival, an annual celebration of James Joyce’s Ulysses which attracts visitors from Ireland and around the world.
Dr McCann was particularly inspired by the Bloomsday tradition of dressing in period costume and recreating scenes associated with Ulysses. He hopes to bring a similar sense of occasion to Enniskillen, with Wilde-themed events taking place throughout the town rather than being confined to traditional theatre spaces.
The aim is to make the festival accessible to everyone, bringing Wilde’s work and legacy directly to the people of Fermanagh.
Dr McCann’s own connection with Wilde stretches back to childhood. He recalled watching a production of The Selfish Giant, an experience which sparked a lifelong connection with the writer and his work.
That connection has remained with him throughout his involvement in Enniskillen’s arts community. He believes Wilde’s legacy can still be seen in the town’s vibrant dramatic arts scene, which he considers particularly impressive for a town of its size.
Wilde spent some of his formative years in Enniskillen, and Dr McCann believes this connection provides the town with an opportunity to celebrate its literary heritage while introducing it to a much wider audience.
For Dr McCann, however, the festival is not simply about celebrating the past. He hopes it can become an established part of Enniskillen’s cultural calendar for generations to come.
“I want this festival to have a legacy into the future,” he said.
His long-term ambition is for the Wilde Festival to follow in the footsteps of Bloomsday, developing an international reputation and attracting visitors from across the world.
If that vision becomes a reality, the festival could not only strengthen Enniskillen’s connection with one of literature’s most celebrated figures, but also create significant tourism opportunities and place the town firmly on the international cultural map.
The festival is part of an ambitious plan to make Enniskillen a centre of literary heritage building on events by Happy Days EIBF from The Enniskillen Beckett International Festivals, A Wilde Weekend to the Wilde-inspired Golden Swallows project and the Beckett Biennale.
Happy Days co-chair Mary Heaney said: “It is wonderful that the local community have wholeheartedly co-created this extravaganza – expertly curated by local volunteer and WildeDay programmer John McCann. This is a sensational programme and much work has gone into year one by local volunteers with John at the helm.”
She added it “ties in with the vision of Happy Days EIBF creative director Sean Doran to showcase Enniskillen’s rich literary heritage in a multi-arts format and create a home for Wilde. We are extremely grateful to our team who have worked on the overall innovation programme which has contributed to upskilling of volunteers and education initiatives – Sean Murphy, Teresa Kane and Bernie Mooney – who have worked so hard to get to this stage. We are also grateful to the Heritage Lottery Innovation Fund for backing this vision and the Young Foundation for their support and to Enniskilllen’s business community, BID.”