Bealtaine, a month-long festival celebrating creativity in old age begins this Saturday, May 1st. The festival co-ordinated by Age & Opportunity, the Irish national organisation working to promote greater participation by older people in society includes exhibitions, nature walks, music, art and dance workshops and much more. The theme for this year's Bealtaine festival is 'have dreams and speak them without fear'.

Festival highlights to look forward to:

• Following on from last year's success, Active Retirement Associations are partnering with choirs from the Association of Irish Choirs to create more Dawn Chorus magic. This year's events will take place on Sunday the 30th of May in many counties across Ireland.To find out how you can be part of this year's Nationwide Dawn Chorus contact Edel Ryan on 087 2894674 or the Association of Irish Choirs on 061 234 823 or Active Retirement Ireland on 01 873 3836.
• This year, Age & Opportunity has commissioned photographer Aidan Kelly to photograph and exhibit his images of the tattoos of older people. The ‘Ink’ exhibition runs in the Original Print Gallery, Temple Bar, Dublin from 16th May to the end of the month and you can also view the photographs on www.bealtaine.ie.
• Blow The Dust Off Your Trumpet, an orchestral extravagaza, is taking place in both Cork and Dublin this year.To take part in the Cork ‘Blow the Dust...’, call the Cork Arts Office on 021 492 4736. To get involved in Dublin, call the National Concert Hall on 01 417 0063.

Click here for the full programme of events  and for more information go to www.bealtaine.ie or call 1890 506060