Welcome back!
HearSay International Audio Festival began as an idea in 2014, evolving into the largest, most unique celebration of creative audio in the world and all in the small mountain village of Kilfinane, deep in rural Ireland. Carving out a dedicated time and space, where hundreds of the finest audio makers from many disciplines come together to inspire, create and share their work.
For four magical days, the local community opens up their homes, shops, pubs and churches to facilitate performances in the most unusual and quirky locations imaginable. Novelty, experimentation, creativity and collaboration are the themes that underscore a weekend long festival programme, where sonic surprises abound around every corner.
As an advocate of the creative audio, the HearSay Prize, invites creators from around the globe to submit new works for assessment by our illustrious panel of judges.
By 2019, the festival had grown to feature 111 different artists from 32 different countries, with 129 events over four days. HearSay is truly a diverse celebration of global sound art and yet it still retains the magic and intimacy that re-energise all who visit.
Through the dark days of the pandemic we triumphed over adversity, hosting a virtual festival, HearSay Homefires, for our international community and a dedicated HearSay Encounters programme for our local community.
Now in 2022, we are commencing conversations with our creative community, our partners, our funders and you. We want to explore the potential for a return to an immersive event in late spring 2023. What unsated demand exists for our festival? How has the sonic landscape transformed and what role can HearSay play in evolving its future?
Get in touch and share your thoughts, the next steps are going to be exciting, so if you are not already signed up to our newsletter – do so now!
2021 Programme highlights
Previous Festival Programmes
Showing all 17 results
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“Soundings: An Audio Village” (film)
Grey Heron Media & Kilfinane Community
OnLine
watch now -
“Come Knocking a’ the door”
Benoit Bories (France)
The Square, Kilfinane
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
“From this ground grew”- The HearSay Sonic Bench
Damien Fitzpatrick (USA) & Diarmuid McIntyre (Ire)
The Square, Kilfinane
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
Distance Measures (film)
Alexandre Iseli (Switzerland/Ireland) & Jazmin Chiodi (Argentina/Ireland)
Heffernan’s Window, The Square
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Emergence (artwork)
Veronica Santorum (Ireland)
McCarthys, The Square
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Ghost Anvil
Danny McCarthy(Ire)
Lower Main Street
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Gramaphone (sculpture with soundworks)
Donnacha Cahill (Sculpture) with Soundworks by Diarmuid McIntyre, Mary McDonnell & Kilfinane Musicians
Sunken Garden (Ballyhoura)
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Haikus @ The HearSay Sonic Bench
Damien Fitzpatrick (US) John Delore (US) & Brendan Francis Newnam (US) & Gabriel Rosenstock (Ireland)
The Square, Kilfinane
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
HearSay Open Houses (podcast)
Tereza Rekova (Czech Rep) & Daniel Clancy (Ire)
OnLine – Apple & Spotify Podcasts
Online From Saturday 29th -
Invasive Specials (sound work)
Slavek Kwi (Czech Rep/Ire)
Entrance to Mountain View, Lower Main Street
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Limerick – As it Lives and Breathes (podcast)
Grey Heron Media (Ire)
OnLine – Apple & Spotify Podcasts
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
Lost notes (music/poetry)
Poetry: Deirdre Carr, Music: Conor Ryan, Sarah & Padraig, Liam Flanagan, Niamh O’Brien & more
The Square & Spaces Around It
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Megaloceros Cill Fionáin (sculpture with sound works)
Donnacha Cahill (Ire) with Soundworks by Diarmuid McIntyre (Ire) & Mark Vernon (Scotland)
By Market House, The Square
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00 -
Memento Mori
Mark Vernon (Scotland)
The Square, Kilfinane
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
Soundscape Cartographer (self-guided walk)
Daniel Lewis (USA), Johannes Bech Dalsgaard (Denmark), Maria Dønvang (Denmark)
Pickup in Shops
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
The HomeFires Virtual Pub
The SoundHosts
OnLine
8th-9th May & 28th-30th May -
Thinking of a Place (sound work)
Alex Lewis (USA)
Sculpture at Radharc CillÃn
Sat 29th & Sun 30th, 10:00 to 19:00


