A glitzy night at the Oscars is in store for this year's Skibbereen Arts Festival, writes Caragh Bell.

SKIBBEREEN Arts Festival opens on Friday July 24th with the annual street party, and this year it’s ‘A Night at the Oscars’. 

The theme is a nod to Ireland’s recent Best Actor wins and the rules are simple: come as any character from any Oscar-winning film. Heroes, villains, icons.

Whatever you choose, Bridge Street from 7pm will be your red carpet. As for me, I’ll be cosplaying Scarlett O’Hara, a character I’ve always adored for her resilience and charisma. 

It’s also a legitimate excuse to wear an enormous hooped skirt, something I’ve dreamed of since watching ‘Gone With The Wind’ when I was eight years old.

I recently bumped into David Puttnam and his Oscar. Not a replica, but the actual Academy Award for Best Picture that he won for Chariots of Fire in 1982.

I got to hold it (it’s much heavier than you’d think) and give a brief acceptance speech to nobody in particular, thanking God, my mother, my dogs - Romeo and Luna. 

We took some photos and it struck me that there was something very West Cork about the whole thing. No fuss, no big deal. Just an ordinary day where you get to hold an Academy Award and then go home to take the washing off the line.

The first Academy Awards were held in 1929 and lasted about 15 minutes.

The ceremony grew steadily through the 1930s and 40s, and then it became the format we have today: red carpet arrivals, scripted banter, clips of nominated films, and emotional acceptance speeches.

Ireland’s relationship with the Oscars has never been stronger. 2023 was a landmark year, with a record-breaking 14 nominations, and the momentum has only grown since. 

Cillian Murphy made history in 2024 as the first Irish-born person to win Best Actor, for his portrayal of J Robert Oppenheimer, and last March Jessie Buckley became the first Irish woman to win Best Actress, as Agnes Shakespeare in ‘Hamnet’.

For such a small island, we are teeming with talent and I’m sure that there’s lots more to come.

This year, Skibbereen Arts Festival is jam-packed with amazing events.

Musical highlights include English folktronica star Beth Orton in a special acoustic show (with her husband, Sam Amidon), virtuoso fiddle player Martin Hayes (music that touches the soul) with Brian Donnellan & Conal O’Kane, and Irish premiere appearances from Sudanese rising star, Sulaf (the next big thing, for sure), and Belize’s The Garifuna Collective (when I hear their music my hips involuntarily start to move and sway - do NOT miss this!). 

You could take a boat trip round the Fastnet with ADT.

Theatre lovers can catch Don Wycherley’s tour-de-force in ‘The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong’, and John O’Mahony in ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

Writers Louise O’Neill and Rosita Sweetman appear, there’s also an

interactive poetry event from Kemi George Simpson, while film fans get a rare Irish edition of French filmmaker Vincent Moon’s Live Cinéma, plus an outdoor screening of Mel Brooks’ The Producers.

UK comedy sensation Jen Brister makes her only Irish summer appearance, and John Minihan’s photography exhibition celebrates his 80th birthday with

images he has taken of West Cork over the years: a wonderful piece of local, social history and open every day during the festival at the Daly Building in The West Cork Hotel.

So, join us on Friday July 24th for a night of glitz and glamour as we open the 2026 festival in style. Maybe come as Rick Blaine, Norma Desmond, Atticus Finch, Sarah Connor, Harry Lime, Vito Corleone, Forrest Gump, or Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Or maybe a famous duo? Jack and Rose, Woody and Buzz, Marty McFly and Doc Brown, or Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Elliot and ET, perhaps? Thelma and Louise? Barbie and Ken on rollerblades? The choice is broad and all yours.

Find the full programme of events at www.skibbereenartsfestival.com.

Scarlett might think about it tomorrow. Frankly, my dear, I’d book tickets today.