Children aged between six and sixteen took part in the National Arts and Culture Finals in a host of different events including Art, Handwriting, Singing, Dancing, Chess, Model Making and more.  Over 600 medals were awarded to the exceptionally talented children. ​

David Hoysted, Chief Executive of Aldi Community Games added:
“As always, the focal point of this Event was the children – we started the weekend off with a parade with Community Games children and the Cloughjordan Community Circus who brought their own life-size puppet elephant along! We had Stilt walkers, magic shows, animation workshops, face-painting, skittles, giant chess – you name it - to entertain the audience and the music and colour really added to the celebrations.  I was simply awestruck by the level of talent this weekend – singers, dancers, artists, writers, musicians, chess players – one thing is sure – the future is bright with these children leading the way!” 

The next National Finals Event for Community Games takes place on 24th September in the University of Limerick for the Swimming and Outdoor Teams Event.   ​

All the results are available here!

Our National Swimming Finals take place on 24th Limerick in University of Limerick Sports Arena. 

More details to follow but in the meantime, here is the Swimming Timetable for the day

We couldn't be more excited about this weekend in VISUAL Carlow and St Patrick's College Carlow!

This weekend is a celebration of Arts and Culture and will showcase so much talent from every corner of Ireland.

Over 1,000 talented children along with their families and supporters from all over Ireland will travel to VISUAL Art Theatre  Carlow  this weekend to take part in the second of the National Aldi Community Games finals.

Children aged between six and sixteen from all over Ireland will be taking part in the National Arts and Culture Finals in a host of different events including Art, Handwriting, Singing, Dancing, Chess, Model Making and more.

The colourful and lively celebration that we have planned for you is open to the public with many outdoor events to entertain the crowds - including Giant Chess, Magic Shows, Parades, Music, Face-painting, Stilt Walkers, Penalty Shoot-outs, Skittles and much more.  This weekend promises to be a very special event for all the family and we just can't wait! 

Bus Éireann, National Travel Partner of Community Games and will have employees on site to meet and greet participants, family and friends this weekend as well as having treats and prizes in for some lucky children!

We are excited to announce that Brown Bag Films will be our very special guests on Saturday 27th August at the VISUAL Theatre in Carlow where they will be holding 4 workshops - Free of Charge - for our Community Games children and they will have spot-prizes and merchandise for those who take part on the day!  Each workshop will last approximately 45 minutes.  All these workshop places have been filled up but if you come along on the day and there are any cancellations there may just be a place for your child!  The workshops are at 12 noon, 1pm, 4pm and 5pm in the VISUAL Art Gallery. 

But not only that - Brown Bag Films will be screening episodes of Karma's World and Ada Twist Scientist in a special Cinema Room for our younger audience! This Cinema will be upstairs in the Visual Art Gallery and will be running from 10:30 am on Saturday!  Aldi are supplying the popcorn :-) ​

Brown Bag Films is among the most technically-advanced studios in the world, with full animation, picture and audio post-production facilities in-house. Their motto is simple: “We love animation.” In fact, they love it so much they've trademarked it! 'We Love Animation®'.

The studio’s much-loved TV shows are viewed by millions of children worldwide and include Doc McStuffins, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Karma’s World, Bing, Ridley Jones, Peter Rabbit, Wild Kratts, Olivia, Ada Twist Scientist, Vampirina, and Octonauts. 

The Group Creative Director of Brown Bag Films, Darragh O'Connell, is a proud silver medallist in Art for Kildare Community Games :-) 

​Darragh O’Connell co-founded Brown Bag Films in 1994 with Cathal Gaffney. He produced the short films ‘Give Up Yer Aul Sins’ which was nominated for an Oscar® at the 2002 Academy Awards®, and Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty which received an Oscar® nomination at the Academy Awards® in 2010.
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For more information, you can check them out on Facebook, Twitter  Instagram or at their website www.brownbagfilms.com. 

The sunshine beamed down over SETU Sports Campus in Carlow for the 2022 Aldi Community Games National Track and Field finals on Saturday 13th August.
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2,000 children, along with their families and supporters, totalling over 4,000, travelled from all over Ireland to the event to represent their County with pride.  The event was livestreamed to an audience of over 30,000 on both Facebook and YouTube.

Throughout the day, 28 different track events from mixed relays to 100m race events and 14 field events from ball throw to long puck took place in the beautiful surrounds of SETU Sports Campus Carlow in the blistering sunshine. A host of experienced Community Games volunteers were in attendance to make sure the day ran smoothly and to hand out over 7,000 bottles of Aldi water ensuring everyone was hydrated on a very warm day in the sunny south east!

For the children taking part, it was a day of excitement and nerves. These children aged from 6 to 16 already have a lot to be proud about having qualified in their Area final, then County Final then Regional Final (for track events) to make it to the National Finals.

Community Games Ambassadors and past participants - Jesse Osas, Sarah Quinn, Adeyemi Talabi and Conor Cusack were present on the day to celebrate and encourage the children taking part.
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SETU President Professor Veronica Campbell attended on the day along with Mayor of Carlow Fintan Phelan and Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council Brian O’Donoghue.

Being able to attend a large physical sporting event again brought huge joy for the children and communities of Ireland and everyone at Community Games

President of Aldi Community Games Gerry McGuinness said ‘This was a marvellous event showcasing the talent from every County in Ireland for track and field. Every child was a credit to themselves and their locality. Congratulations to one and all. I would like to thank SETU Carlow for the use of their amazing facilities and their support in the organising of this event. I would also like to thank our outstanding volunteers, who as always make these events possible, and our sponsors Aldi Ireland and Bus Éireann and Transport for Ireland. We look forward to hosting our next event, the National Cultural and Arts Finals on the 27th and 28th of August at the VISUAL Centre and St Patrick’s College in Carlow. This will be a celebration of the Arts and Culture and will be a colourful and entertaining weekend for everyone attending. It’s a date for the diary and open to the general public.”

David Hoysted, Chief Executive of Aldi Community Games added: “The event today was a great success! The atmosphere on the ground was electric with children and families from all over Ireland enjoying a colourful and exciting day out! The event was live streamed to an audience of 30,000 people and it was lovely to see families  from all over the World reconnect over social media as they commentated on their nieces or nephews running on the track.  Looking forward to next year already.”
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Eleanor Farrell, Chief Commercial Officer, Bus Éireann said: “Bus Éireann is at the heart of communities throughout the country. We are proud to be Aldi Community Games official travel partner for the third year and to see so many local communities coming together and showing their support for the games is really something special. Today’s events highlight the remarkable talents of over 2,000 children in communities across Ireland.”

As you may be aware, there is a yellow warning in place for parts of Ireland this Saturday due to extremely hot temperatures. After considerable thought and deliberation we have decided to alter our timetables to allow for the hottest part of the day to be avoided.  We believe this modification is in the best interest of our participants and their families and prioritises their safety and welfare.
 
As such, the Track and Field events will now commence at 9am with the longer distance races taking place first.  Please see below the revised timetables taking all changes into consideration.
 
As the day is forecast to reach temperatures of up to 31 degrees we would like to advise you of the following:

• We are supplying 3,000 bottles of water to our participants
• We will have shaded areas set up in the Assembly Area for our participants
• We will have 2 indoor areas available as “cool down” zones if anyone is in need of shade/break – these will be signposted – 1/Tyndall College 2/Sports Campus Changing Room
• We will have 2 Ice-Cream Vans on site
• There are 4 fresh water taps available for you to fill up your own reusable water bottles
• We are offering a shuttle bus service from SETU Carlow/Tyndall College and SETU Carlow Sports Campus – this will allow you to park and ride rather than walk any long distance to an overflow carpark
• We have First Aid on site who are fully briefed on the situation
• Areas may put up tents as well as Counties – please note there are two Areas for tents - which will be signposted

Our National Athletics Track and Field Finals are taking place on Saturday 13th August 2022 in SETU Carlow Sports Complex. 

To take part in this event, your child will have qualified already at either County or Regional events.  For more information, contact your county secretary. 

Best of luck!

To find out more, click here