Athlone Castle to host a free Fashion Show for children on Cruinniú na nÓg on Saturday 7th June

Athlone Castle will host a “From Garden to Runway” Free Fashion Show Event for children in celebration of Cruinniú na nÓg on Saturday 7th June 2025 in the castle courtyard at 3 pm.

This special event is part of the national Cruinniú na nÓg programme of activities. This annual event is a day dedicated to enabling children’s and young people’s creative potential. The Fashion Show is a collaboration between Athlone Castle and Luan Gallery and is presented with support from Creative Ireland and Westmeath County Council.

In recent weeks, Athlone Castle and Luan Gallery hosted costume-making workshops for local children focused on sustainability and the costumes were inspired by the Historical Garden in the upper battlements of Athlone Castle. Abbey Road Resident artists, Niamh Butler and Aoife Doolan, facilitated these workshops, with assistance from Transition Year students from Our Lady’s Bower, Athlone, who were involved in Junk Kouture.

The children who participated in the workshops will showcase their designs at a fashion show titled “From Garden to Runway” on Saturday 7th June in the Athlone Castle Courtyard at 3 pm. The event will also feature live performances by talented local youth musicians from the Féile na Sionainne festival, and special guest John McGlynn, Manager of The Deane Crowe Theatre, who will serve as Compere and Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon’s festivities. To conclude this creative journey, photos captured by amateur photographer Chris Burke during the workshops and fashion show will be exhibited in the Garden to Gallery Exhibition at Luan Gallery starting Saturday 2nd August.

The fashion show event is free, but it does not include access to the Athlone Castle Visitor Centre. For further information, please contact [email protected] or call 090 64 42130.