About the 2021 festival

The ethos of Vintage Week is to celebrate, connect, share, transform, surprise. While we
cannot gather together as we would have liked to, we can celebrate and connect through
shared experiences.

This year we are doing everything we can to bring the ‘Spirit of Vintage” to Birr despite the times.
The bunting will be up, the windows will be decorated, and prizes will be awarded for the best
costumes for children, adults, and businesses on Vintage Sunday. We are having a drive-by “Peoples
Parade” of decorated cars around the streets of the town, with more prizes, and pop-up Street
Performers and buskers on Main Street. There will be Festival Domes with music, workshops and
community events throughout the week. We are focussing particularly on children with the return of
Pavement Art and the Kid’s Treasure Hunt, and two shows of Parade favourites Fanzini at the
theatre.

We are asking the community to show their Vintage Spirit in the windows of the shops and
houses to create a magical window walking trail.

Vintage Luminaries has some surprises this year – some unexpected locations, combining
dance with projections for some after dark magic.

Take a walk round the backstreets during the week and you will see strange characters
popping out of windows and doors. These are more than they seem and with the Artivive
app downloaded, they will spring to life as AR artworks.

For 2021 we are bringing the inside-outside with Open-air Galleries. Our main exhibition has
artists from across the world focussing on Birr, particularly what it means to have an empty
column as the main landmark in the town. With New Orleans curator Ric Kasini Kadour,
these artists, from as far afield as Poland, Iran and Canada have been connecting via zoom
with Birr Historical Society and have produced collages on the theme Empty Columns are a
Place to Dream. Accompanying the exhibition will be collage workshops with visiting artists,
and an evening talk at Birr Theatre and Arts Centre.

Staying on a dreamy theme, the Open Submission Exhibition, curated by Therry Rudin is
titled Through the Looking Glass. There will be artists painting around the town and a pop-up
day at the domes for local artists.

The Vintage Week Committee has been working hard to be able to bring a safe, fun week to the town,
reimagining events within Government Guidelines. We are doing all we can, and the rest is up to you.
So, dress up decorate your windows, and show what the Spirit of Vintage is for you.