Come for a céilí, feasting, drinking, dancing and top craic!
Encouraged by late local artist Gerry Dalton’s Irish heritage and in the spirit of his visionary world's alternative histories and playfulness, we’re throwing a multi-generational Irish-inspired Céilí on April Fool’s night (Tuesday April 1st, 6-11pm).
Don't miss our gathering filled with the most glorious of humans, stunning live musical performances, and feasting in a Neo-medieval crypt followed by céilí dancing in the canal-side Grand Junction at St Mary Magdalene Church, Rowington Close, W2 5TF.
*Order-of-Play* with the standard Queen Maeve Ticket
Arrive from 6pm for an Irish cocktail and performance by Evie Waddell in the church before being led down to the crypt (one of John Betjeman faves) towards the Roman and Corsican chanting of Idrîsî Ensemble for a feast of traditional Irish Faye (Irish stew and Guinness) by Connie Booth & Mary Harragin.
There will be a chance to play 'Who Floats Your Boat?' a sponsor-a-sculpture auction in the guise of 17th-century speed dating, in collaboration with historian Minoo Dinshaw. Fall head over heels and match with one of Gerry's sculptures and help to literally float a boat for our upcoming 'Gongoozling' - a canal-based procession with accompanying workshops and collaborations with local west London groups.
If you can’t make dinner, join the other revellers from 8pm for Irish cocktails and two sets of traditional Irish dancing to the tunes of the Coppermill Céilí Band performing live!
Please book your ticket via our rewards section to secure your precious place.
Inspired by Gerry’s heroes, who are you for April Fools?
- Queen Maeve (£75 join us from 6pm-11pm for the whole evening of feasting, live performances and céilí dancing)
- If you are just up for a dance, you're a Fish Boy (for £40 join us after dinner at 8pm -11pm for just the post-dinner céilí dancing & a welcome drink).
If you're feeling super generous you're an Elizabethan (£750 surround yourself with your courtiers) or closer to Buddha (£5000...god-like generosity, go all out to support) also for the whole evening out from 6-11pm).
All of your presence and generosity will make this possible and your energy will make the night as merry and ridiculous as it can be!
We're trying to raise £30,000 for the costs of all the workshops and the 5 new artist commissions for our first canal parade, any amount you can give will help to make this possible!
Come for the cause, stay for the craic.
Drinks kindly supported by Dima's Vodka and the Winery.
WHAT'S OUR CAUSE AND WHY DO WE NEED YOUR HELP?
As a result of all the community energies and recognition of the incredibly unusual world created by local Irish artist Gerry Dalton, we have formed 'Gerry's Pompeii' an ambitious new charity created to protect and uphold what remains of Gerry’s work on the bank of the Grand Union canal and artwork to create public access to this extraordinary and vital cultural resource. All of our project work with emerging and established artists and local community groups uses Gerry's artwork as a platform to help inspire, empower and enable people who might otherwise feel excluded from the arts to create.
We're organising this party to build on the last five years of our work with local community groups and to help support the devising and creation our inaugural canal-procession. This canal parade ‘Gongoozling’ will be an exciting opportunity to join together, celebrate and encourage further community participation along the canal in a joyful, witty and unusual parade with performances from puppetry, to clowning, pageantry and moving sculpture for anyone to discover and join! We want to show to local authorities and organisations the potential of the canals to include and enable diverse communities to participate in the arts, with our long-term goal to secure a canal-boat as a floating workshop space and 'Gerry Ferry'.
By pairing up five established and emerging artists with some of the fabulous community groups in the area including local youth (the Avenues & Paddington Arts) to the elderly (Octavia) to adults with complex learning needs (PiP), we will create an inclusive (and surprising) canal-procession where everyone will be invited to join in and encounter a series of newly commissioned, site-specific performances on canal boats, under bridges and along tow paths as we walk together along the canal.
THE LOCAL CONTEXT (working between Notting Hill, Harrow Road & Kensal)
We know from our campaign to save Gerry’s work in his social housing flat and garden in 2019 that there is a vibrant and creative ecosystem around the Harrow Road, between Kensal and Westbourne Park. However, wards in this area are amongst the most disadvantaged in London, facing significant income and health inequalities compared to neighbouring wards. In spite of incredible community organisations, there is limited visual arts provision in the area and a lack of the inter-organisational resources to create one locally. Gerry’s Pompeii and our public programme (with this year's Gongoozling as its centre) is our opportunity to meet this need.
WHAT IS GERRY'S POMPEII?
For those of you who haven't yet been introduced to Gerry's incredible story yet you're in for a treat. With limited resources and infinite imagination, Irish immigrant Gerry Dalton (1935-2019) devoted over thirty years of his life to create what has become known as ‘Gerry’s Pompeii.’ An intensely private person, Gerry worked mostly in secret and often at night, to transform his social housing flat into a total work of art. His miniature interiors, vast collection of carefully re-labelled figurines and bold Napoleonic battle scenes, spilled out onto a small garden; a devotional shrine with an army of over 100 concrete sculptures depicting his heroes of the past.
Despite an internationally fought struggle to save all of Gerry's artworks in situ, what remains of Gerry's work is the extraordinary 50-metre long sculpture garden on the bank of the Grand Union canal. Gerry's Pompeii is situated behind his former home and visible from the towpath by Meanwhile Gardens opposite. It is currently only accessible via Nick & Alison's home, Gerry's endlessly kind neighbours.
We need your help to make it happen!
(See the video above for our 'Verry Gerry Christmas' 2024 and get a sense of our community and Gerry gatherings that we hope you'll soon become part of!).