Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures 2022 celebrates and connects nomadic communities

Misleór Festival of Nomadic Cultures 2022, organised by the Galway Traveller Movement, is a festival celebrating nomadic communities and cultures.

This three-day event runs from September 29 to October 1 and aims to celebrate nomadic peoples from across the globe. Based in Galway city and county, the festival welcomes all to honour nomadic communities through the arts. 

Events taking place at Misleór Festival

These events highlight the vibrant cultural traditions in nomadic communities through music, poetry, theatre, film and visual art. These include Misleór in Song—a music, song and spoken word event on October 1st, and the premiere of the production Night Shift written by Irish Traveller playwright Rosaleen McDonagh. 

The festival also presents Nomadic Shorts. A diverse series of short films representing different nomadic cultures. Roma, Sinti, Mongolian, Sámi, Traveller, and Romany Gypsy communities will be represented in this lineup of nine short films.  

Nomadic Shorts debuts on September 30 in An Taibhdhearc Theatre. A filmmaker’s Q&A will be hosted after the screening. 

Misleór Festival also seeks to amplify the voices of nomadic communities through open discourse about cultural rights and discrimination experienced by nomadic peoples.

Misleór Conversations will feature a panel of artists, activists and leaders from nomadic communities. Panelists will be sharing their experiences and perspectives on identity, cultural rights and nomadism in modern society. This event is open to all and will take place on September 30 at the University of Galway. 

Connecting Communities

Misleór has also created opportunities for nomadic peoples to connect within their communities. Nomad-Only Dialogue Space is a discussion workshop open exclusively to members of nomadic communities where they can spark conversations on cultural identity and rights.  

This event is being hosted by Nora Corcoran, Co-Artistic Director of the Misleór Festival on September 30.

Misleór meaning “wanderer” is a word from the Irish Traveller language, Cant or Gammon. The festival is celebrating its fourth year connecting nomadic communities in Galway.

For more information on upcoming events, visit the Misleór Festival website.