Spraoi" A Gaelic word meaning 'celebrate' or 'party'
"Spraoi" Not only did the meaning of the word perfectly describe the very essence of what Spraoi was to become, but it also rhymed perfectly with 93! Decision made! Print the poster!
There came an idea back in 1993 to have some fun and perhaps a little madness on a Summer Sunday. This initial idea materialized as a one-day event, held on the streets of Waterford city. It was so successful that the idea grew; perhaps it could become an annual summer festival in Waterford? Thus began it all. And what has since developed is one of Ireland leading arts company's; Spraoi. Now, with over twelve of years work in the area of spectacle, outdoor theatre, event management and festival production, Spraoi has amassed a vast wealth of specialist skills and experience.
In 2002, the company embarked on it's most ambitious project to date - the construction of it's own studios, which is the first purpose built building in Ireland dedicated solely to the development of street art. With the support and assistance of the Arts Council of Ireland, Waterford City Council, other grants and public donations, Spraoi moved into it's new home at Carrickpherish, Waterford, in January 2003.
The annual Spraoi Festival takes over the city centre for the entire August Bank Holiday weekend and in 2005 attracted audiences in excess of 80,000 people. The August Bank Weekend has now become, in Waterford and beyond, the Spraoi Weekend. It is an outdoor festival, concentrating on showcasing top quality national and international street art and world music. Spraoi's own production, The Spraoi Parade, is now a major highlight of the annual festival, involving approximately 400 participants, with large scale floats, costumes, props, lighting and special effects.
Spraoi productions continue to go from strength to strength and the company is regularly commissioned to produce high outdoor theatre and spectacle for many of Ireland's leading events. In January 2005 the company staged it's biggest and most prestigious production to date, "Awakening", the Opening Show for Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture.
Spraoi is a professional arts organisation based in Waterford City, Ireland.
The company programme and produce the annual Spraoi Festival in Waterford each summer, featuring the best of national and international street art and world music.
Spraoi also devise and produce high quality spectacle and events. These productions, both large and small scale, take place in a variety of settings.
To be "spraoied" is to experience the unique, the extraordinary, and the completely unexpected.
Spraoi in The Park : July 2nd to 5th
Spraoi Festival 2009 : July 31st, August 1st and 2nd
I made this myspace background at
Greetings to you, our kind friends from Ireland. As some of you may be aware, we had intended to visit your fine and verdant home this very winter, in the deep cold heart of December. Unfortunately, due to circumstance, (that surly old bugbear), we will not be able to make it. Do not fear, no need to rend your hair in agony or take to the streets in mournful procession. This is merely a postponement of our inevitable arrival, as foretold by scholars and mystics of old. This band of rough hewn and unknown balladeers from out the concrete wilds of Boise, Idaho will make joyous landfall in the relatively near(ish) future. In the mean time, we will wrap ourselves in blankets and begin recording our new album, to be released this spring. We greatly appreciate all of your support, comments, and interest, and look forward to performing for you soon. Take care and keep your toes warm. Josh/ASD And here, an extra special gift for you. A video of us covering a song by Boise’s biggest musical export, (no, not Josh Ritter, though he is a fellow Idahoan, of whom we’re duly proud), Built to Spill.
Its been a while and we thought it was about time we updated you on what we've been up to. Our debut EP Little World is now available at our gigs and will soon be available from our myspace and facebook pages, you will also be able to download it from itunes, but we don't have a release date for this as yet.
To celebrate the fact that we have now reached 25,000 plays on myspace, we are giving you a free MP3 of Rockabye Baby. All you have to do is send your email address to queen.elvis@yahoo.ie and we will send it to you.
We have spent the last year rehearsing with a full band and are now ready to bring it on the road. You can get a look at us when we appear on Balcony TV this week with the full line up. We are currently taking bookings for gigs/concerts/festivals and can be contacted on the email above, or through our myspace and facebook pages.
Thankyou for your continued support in what has been a great year for us!
We're pleased to make your acquaintance here. Also, pleased to see that Waterford appears to have such an involved and robust local music scene. We're excited about the possiblility of playing there in December. Hope you're all well, and take care.
Thanks for the add,heard a lot of good things about Waterford Spraoi. Keep up the good work and if you ever need a band ,don't hesitate to give us a shout. All the Best Caroline and Colin
