Help CCAL Bring The Dragon of Shandon Back!

Reemerging from the underworld, the 36 foot Dragon made entirely out of tape will once again prowl the streets escorted by her legion of loyal ghouls, beasts, misfits and spooky creatures to celebrate the ancient tradition of Samhain in a thrilling nighttime parade and Finale Show attracting thousands of spectators, young and old, to Cork City on the 31st of October

Now into its 17th year, The Dragon of Shandon Parade is the highlight of Cork Community Art Link’s annual arts calendar: a Street Parade celebration and Creative Partnership between artists and communities, the result of a 3 month outreach and community engagement programme with local artists, over 20 groups as well as support services to create a Cultural Hub and provide a friendly, safe and festive atmosphere within the entire city on Halloween Night

Our community outreach and open door policy programmes mean that each year, hundreds of participants benefit from learning skills in prop making/ float construction/ mask and costume creation/ drama and theatre/ dance/ community engagement as well as project development all the while having fun and being part of one of Cork’s largest community participative event of the year!

Does this sound like a project you would like to support? Great! Because we need your help! With the growing demand for group participation and our ethos to try and keep providing as many free workshops for the community as we can, CCAL needs the public’s support now more than ever to continue bringing this One of a Kind Community Driven Event to the streets of Cork to the Benefit of All

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and it does… And to raise a Dragon, an entire City!

So join us! Partake in this inspirational venture and support an arts charity that has been bringing the people of Cork together through creative and inclusive community art projects for the past 30 years!

Every Donation will help us finance The Dragon of Shandon and assist in covering various costs such as

Materials hundreds of rolls of tape, steel bars, metal rods, ropes, glue guns and glue sticks, paint and varnish, gloves, masks, sandpaper, cable ties, paintbrushes, PVA glue, welding material, wood, wheels, blades, chicken wire, staple gun and staples, nails, screws, plastic tubes, foam, scissors, cling film

Equipment hundreds of LED light to place inside floats and batteries, cost of renting out sound equipment for each float, electric cables, car batteries, inverters, powerbanks, renting out electric tools, safety belts for harnesses

Facilitators’ fees to hold artistic workshops and organise volunteers

Safety hired security staff for the day of Parade, three hundred safety barriers, medical kits, donation towards having an ambulance on call present during the event, fire extinguishers, structural engineering report, insurance, road closure, various permits, high visibility vests

Costumes fabrics/materials, zippers, sewing machine repairs, needles and thread, wigs, haberdashery (feathers/ribbons/buttons etc), buckles, rivets, fasteners

FacePainting facepainting coordinator fee, facepainting materials such as paint, brushes, sponges, cotton, wipes, gloves

Transport renting trailers to move floats to and from the various workspaces on the Parade day and drivers’ fees

Project Office supplies paper, pens, markers, ink cartridges

Advertising posters and pamphlets printing, Dragon of Shandon website fee

General costs for participants/volunteers throughout project and on the day water, tea, biscuits, milk, covid masks, gloves, toilet paper, kitchen paper towels, baby powder, sponges, wipes, disinfectant

Over the years, The Dragon of Shandon has held workshops and facilitated community participation to

National Learning Network, Enable Ireland, Cope Foundation, YMCA, Aisling Cap, Cork Life Centre, Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance, Traveller Visibility Group, Cork City Samba, Circus Factory, Cork City Firebirds, Mexicans in Cork, UCC Drama and Theatre Studies, Aatma Indian Dance Troupe, Shandon and Blackpool Men Shed, Refugees asylum seekers, the Brooke Centre, The Coal Quay Shawlies, Youth Work Ireland Cork, The ACA of Performing Arts, Mayfield Community Training Centre, Macha Shewolfe Belly Dancers, Mahon Community Development Programme, Kareen SK VYBZ, High Hopes Choir Cork, Farranree TUSLA Springboard, Link Point Youth Centre Knockaheeny, Cork Community Bikes, Buttera Exchange Band, Blackpool Youth Group, Foroige, Link Point Youth Centre, Springboard Family Support Project, Youth Work Ireland, The Hut, CCAL Comic Creators, Cobh Animation Team, Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork Figure Skating Association, PassePartout Fire Show, Cobh Heritage Group​, Happiness is a Choice, Butter Exchange Band, Gurranabraher Youth Work Ireland Cork, St Kevin's After School Programme, Terence McSwiney Community College, Blackpool Glen Community Youth Center

Find out more about the Dragon of Shandon Parade on the DOS website Dragon of Shandon http://www.dragonofshandon.com/

About Cork Community Art Link

CCAL is a community based arts organisation which has been creating artistic projects in Cork for the past three decades. We specialise in providing equal access to all in the process of art making and performance, often using the streets, the public space, as our canvas for community driven initiatives. At CCAL we believe that everyone should have the chance to experience the benefits of community projects, artistic creation and collaborative work which all contribute to learning and developing new skills, enhance self-esteem, and increase social engagement. We also believe in Cultural Democracy which means that everyone has their part to say and should be allowed and encouraged to participate in the making of culture and express themselves. We view individual as well as collective creativity as fundamental and necessary rights

Find out more about Cork Community Art Link on the CCAL website

https://www.corkcommunityartlink.com/