At the Wexford Festival Opera Green Night were Ann Marie Dalton and Claudine Murphy. Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are Geraldine Rea, Abi Way, Anne Marie O’Brien and Brenna Hurley . Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are James Glazier, Randall Shannon Wexford Festival Opera Executive Director and James Ferguson. Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are Isabel Mahon, Clare McCormack and Mary Murphy. Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are Countess Ulrike Walderdorff and Heinz Hockmann. Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are Randall Shannon Wexford Festival Opera Executive Director, Rosetta Cucchi, Wexford Festival Opera Artistic Director and Paul Cleary, Chairman of Wexford Festival Trust. Photograph: Patrick Browne
25/10/2024. Wexford Festival Opera Green Night are Patrick and Eileen Monahan EPA, Randall Shannon Wexford Festival Opera Executive Director, Emma Rath, Blackwater and Ryan Healy, Castlebridge. Photograph: Patrick Browne
Wexford People
Green was the dominant colour of opera lovers on Thursday night, as once again Wexford Festival Opera and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) teamed up to encourage patrons to make sustainable fashion choices when choosing their evening outfits
This initiative aims to highlight the idea of a circular economy and to show that the way we shop and the choices we make daily can make a big difference to our environment.
Whether it’s borrowing a bow-tie from a family member, raiding your wardrobe for that beautiful dress you wore many years ago, or finding the perfect pair of opera gloves in your local charity or vintage shop – every small change helps.
Audience members at The Critic on Thursday night wore touches of green and shared stories of their outfit choices and special pieces they have had for many years, either bought or handed down over generations in what is now a long-running tradition in the Festival calendar.
Among the attendees at the National Opera House on Thursday was volunteer Claudine Murphy, who spoke about her striking silk coat, which she bought from a local fashion designer many years ago in the Arts & Craft Fair in Whites Hotel held every year during the Festival.
At the Wexford Festival Opera Green Night were Ann Marie Dalton and Claudine Murphy. Photograph: Patrick Browne
Speaking of her beautiful silk coat, volunteer Claudine Murphy told us how she bought it from a local fashion designer many years ago in the Arts & Craft Fair in Whites Hotel held every year during the Festival.
Jim Ferguson and his partner James Glazier, who are long term friends of Wexford Festival Opera, also got into the spirit of sustainable fashion. Jim wore a brilliant kilt made with tartan from the Ferguson clan design, which he proudly wears to many opera events in Wexford.
Warren Phelan, EPA Programme Manager, said: “By promoting sustainable fashion at Wexford Festival Opera, we hope to raise awareness of Ireland’s move towards a circular economy, and encourage everyone to play their part. The latest EPA survey showed that people in Ireland are happy to reuse and rewear clothes, with 78% of people saying they wear clothes until they wear out.
“Our consumption habits are changing too with 65% of those surveyed saying they chose to keep wearing clothes they already had instead of buying more and 18% bought second hand in the past 12 months. Buying less and reusing what we have, are changes we can take to support a circular economy and help protect our environment.”
The EPA’s headquarters is based in Johnstown Castle Estate, Wexford and the agency has been part of the local community for the last 25 years. It has worked with and supported Wexford Festival Opera for many years through various EPA-led initiatives to raise awareness on a variety of environmental issues.