Celebrating how the arts make us feel
The Well Festival of Arts & Wellbeing celebrates the health benefits of participation in the arts by all. Presented by Waterford Healing Arts in partnership with Garter Lane Arts Centre and Waterford City and County Libraries, the Well Festival champions the links between arts and wellbeing and increases public engagement through a wide-ranging programme of innovative free events for all ages across many art forms, including music, art, dance, film, poetry, theatre and literature.
Each year the festival partners research and present evocative, joyful and celebratory daily arts experiences throughout Waterford City and County, while seeking opportunities to increase artist involvement and meaningful public engagement in this gem in the festival calendar in Waterford.
The Waterford Healing Arts programme includes animating the hospital space with visual art, music and poetry, an artist talk, a CPD session for artists, and the organising, together with the festival partners, of the festival keynote event Why Arts?. This event, which was introduced for the 2020 Well Festival, invites a well-known medical professional to speak about the importance of the arts in their life as part of a public interview/ conversation with a high profile journalist. The festival concludes with the flagship event Sunshine: sharing writings to brighten our souls where passionate readers share their favourite uplifting poetry and prose.
The festival is partly funded by Waterford City & County Council’s Festival Grants Scheme.