First Fortnight has launched its 15th annual Mental Health Arts and Culture Festival with events across Ireland.
The festival, which aims to challenge the stigma around mental health through art and culture, runs for two weeks from tomorrow.
Poet Stephen James Smith has been involved in the festival since the beginning, first as a volunteer and this year as a co-curator of the festival.
He "fell in love" with the aim of the festival which "hooked" him in.
"Post Christmas we might have drank too much , spent too much , eaten too much, hopefully not too many family arguments, but it can be a difficult time for sure", he said.
"So the idea is we can kind of, hopefully uplift people, get a sense of community, get people out and to have those important conversations as well".
The renowned poet continued: "The festival is always a really uplifting time for me, thankfully, but for everybody that attends the festival itself and then in terms of what we're creating, curating and creating, it's important to provide that safe space for people to have these conversations around mental health."
There will be more than 45 events in venues around the country over two weeks beginning tomorrow.
"We have something for everybody" was the promise made by festival director Maria Fleming at its launch in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin today,
The CEO of First Fortnight, Ms Fleming, said it started as a small event in 2010 by two friends David Keegan and JP Swain, who had been impacted by mental health issues either directly or indirectly.
Now the festival is running over two weeks with performances and workshops all over the country.
"We're delighted with a vast range of artists, both national and international. We're particularly delighted to have some First Nation poets from Canada and Alaska joining us this year", she said.
"There's workshops that you can participate in, or you can come and sit in a dark theatre or a venue and watch a play or attend a gig", she said.
There will be live music, dance, visual art and theatre at the festival.
For the first time in the festival's history the Abbey Theatre will host an event, entitled 'In Good Company' - a conversation between musician Declan O'Rourke and comedian Deirdre O'Kane with music from Toshín.
Mark O'Brien, Executive Director of the Abbey Theatre said it is an absolute privilege to "have three extraordinary artists talking about their art, work, their lives and performing on national stage".
Singer-songwriter Tolü Makay will take some time off from rehearsals with 'Dancing with the Stars' to perform in the festival.
"Growing up singing and writing was a way for me to really express myself and through therapy, a shout out to therapy, I’ve learned to talk about how I actually feel outside of music as well," she said.
"So I’m very happy to be here, to be supporting it and also be performing."
Festival organisers want it to be accessible to everyone so 40% of events are free or attendees can pay what they can.
A full list of events can be found on the First Fortnight website.
