The Festival of Ideas is a dynamic, interdisciplinary celebration that explores the powerful themes of dereliction, vacancy, and revitalisation. Rooted in architecture, urban planning, art, and social change, the festival invites communities, creatives, thinkers, and activists to reimagine the spaces we overlook — abandoned buildings, forgotten corners, and dormant infrastructures — as sites of potential and transformation.
Through thought-provoking talks, interactive installations, guided urban walks and collaborative workshops, the festival delves into the layered histories of neglected spaces and investigates their roles in shaping identity, memory, and possibility.
From grassroots regeneration projects to radical visions for future cities, the Festival of Ideas challenges us to see Drogheda differently.
Held at the intersection of creativity and civic engagement, this festival serves as both a platform and a provocation: how might we breathe new life into what’s been left behind?
Events:
Friday the 13th of June:
Revitalising Drogheda: Lessons from Cork and Donegal
The Barbican, St. Peter’s Parish Centre – 7.30pm
Join Drogheda Vacancy and Dereliction for a conversation with Jude Sherry and Donnan Harvey as they share their experiences tackling vacancy and dereliction in Cork and Donegal.
Speakers:
Jude Sherry: Moving between roles as designer, maker, artist, researcher and activist Jude is recognised as an international expert on sustainable design for a circular economy. In her seminal publication in 2003 Jude called for an end to greenwashing in Ireland. She has consulted globally on policy, business practice and education and was awarded a Masters in Environmental Management in 2014. Co-instigator of the grassroots phenomenon #DerelictIreland Jude was awarded Art & Design Woman of the Year 2021 from Irish Tatler and named in the Top 100 Women changing Ireland for 2022 and 2023 by the Irish Examiner. Jude has published widely and is a regular media contributor including newsprint, magazines, radio, TV and podcasts.
Donnan Harvey is a dedicated community activist and the project manager of the Letterkenny Cathedral Quarter initiative in County Donegal, Ireland. Growing up in Letterkenny, Harvey developed a deep appreciation for the area’s historical significance. This connection inspired him to spearhead efforts to revitalize the Church Lane and its surroundings, aiming to establish a vibrant cultural and historical quarter in the heart of the town.
Saturday the 14th of June:
Past, Future, Re-use
Saturday morning | 98-99 West Street, Drogheda
An exhibition of the work of MArch students from the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy in University College Dublin.
Responding to a need for a greater degree of reuse in the built environment, this Design Research
Studio asks how architecture can engage equally with past and future.
The studio examines the ways in which the past manifests itself on site – through material, culture
and built form, but also through memory, narrative and history and considers how these pasts can
serve to prompt and support future strategies.
In this academic year the studio has based its work in the town of Drogheda.
Speculative Futures Workshop
The Barbican | 1.30pm
Join us at The Barbican, St. Peter’s Parish Centre for a day of creative exploration and imagination. The Alliance of Spatial Liberation invites you to reimagine derelict spaces as sites of possibility. Through collaborative mapping, speculative futures, and tactical (or guerrilla) urbanism approaches, participants will develop bold yet practical visions for abandoned properties while building connections that could drive real change. No specialised knowledge required— just bring your curiosity and local insights.
Facilitators: Heather Griffin (she/her) and Patrick Mulvihill (he/him) collaborate at the intersection of art, design and futures to bring communities together and create new narratives for our transitional times. Within this space they present alternative visions of the world through speculative futures, worldbuilding, creative placemaking, and experiential learning. Their work is connected with long horizons of time, providing space for considered debate, through multilayered experimentation, prototyping and transdisciplinary collaboration. They mix media, engage communities, conduct deep research and embrace complex systems to build powerful collaborative networks and narratives that will help shape more equitable and regenerative futures. Their current work includes the ongoing development of the Amicitia social enterprise in Athenry, place-based Dinnseanchas residency in North Kerry and supporting the community of Buncrana to develop an eco-strategy for their town.
Whose Town is it Anyway? – The Regeneration Session
Mc Hugh’s, 1-3 Cord Road, Drogheda | 8pm
Join us for a night of banter and awards.
Sunday the 15th of June:
Walk+Talk – Pretty Vacant Reprise
The Buttergate – On the Green | 2pm – 4.30pm
Join us on a guided tour of vacancy and dereliction in Drogheda whilst hearing from a range of contributors and experts.
About the organisers:
Drogheda Dereliction and Vacancy (DVD) was established in late 2024 as a multi-stakeholder task force whose mission was the eradication of dereliction and vacancy in Drogheda
Development Perspectives: The mission of Development perspectives is to tackle poverty, inequality and climate change through transformative education and active global citizenship. Our work explores, examines and acts upon a range of issues and challenges that face our world. In order for this to work effectively, we use participatory and interactive learning methods to ensure the greatest impact for participants of our programmes.
Upstate Theatre Project: Upstate Theatre Project is a community-engaged performing arts organisation adhering to collective and collaborative approaches in keeping with principles of cultural democracy. Upstate was founded in 1997 and has pursued a collaborative, participatory practice since its inception.