Castleblayney

4-7TH JULY

Free Market joined the summer-time family fun of the Muckno Mania Festival in Market Square Castleblayney from July 4th-7th. The Free Market exhibition was installed both inside and outside the Hope Castle Gate Lodge. The exhibition was opened with a special public launch event on July 4th followed by a 3 day programme of free events.

In Castleblayney Free Market turned the street outside the Castle Lodge into a temporary pedestrianised public space, where we hosted a series of public events helping us to spark new conversations around the future of our towns. The public were invited to explore the exhibition, join guided walking tours, contribute to Vox Pop recording sessions and, for younger “townies, take part in a special Townie Scavenger Hunt.

A Free Market exhibition was housed inside the recently refurbished Gate Lodge building. This included original architectural drawings, photographs, models, books and audio recordings from the Free Market pavilion which represented Ireland at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. The exhibition described historic and contemporary conditions as well as the potential future development of small towns across Ireland, including a proposal for the market building of Castleblayney.

Copies of ‘Free Market News’ were available to browse and take home. With contributions from leading Irish and international architectural historians, researchers, geographers, poets and writers, the newspaper captures a snapshot of the thinking around the subject of rural towns today.

The Free Market team were also on hand to discuss ideas and learn about Castleblayney, as they continue to gather experiences, thoughts and dreams for towns on each stop of the National Tour journey.