On a green hill, dark grey slabs form an imposing, circular structure: An Grianán of Aileach. Looking out from the highest of the three terraces within this ancient hillfort, we command a 360-degree view over land and water: Donegal’s Inishowen peninsula. Standing at its centre, on green grass, enclosed within its walls, we see, above us, only clouds. Voices rise in harmony: Irish folk musicians the Henry Girls. A harp shivers notes; a bird sings. Centuries dissolve into an eternal instant.
Yes festival is the culminating stage of Ulysses: European Odyssey, a two-year, peripatetic, pan-European celebration of the anniversary of the publication, in 1922, of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The project was conceived by Seán Doran and Liam Browne (AKA DoranBrowne, of Arts Over Borders), who have form when it comes to imaginative, writer-inspired festivals (they were behind Happy Days, Enniskillen’s international Beckett festival and Liverpool’s Sgt Pepper at 50).
