2nd March 2021: TikTok has today announced a partnership with St. Patrick’s Festival, including the unveiling of Solas: Awakening Ireland, an inspired festival of illumination captured at iconic locations across the country and presented at the festival from March 12th – 17th, with a headline performance from Soulé to close the programme.

About Solas: Awakening Ireland

Solas: Awakening Ireland calls on the nation to remain hopeful through these challenging times; with Ireland’s most beautiful rural locations and urban landscapes playing host to magnificent lighting displays, and an original spoken word performance plus an exclusive musical event with Irish pop artist Soulé.

Locations featured in the programme include the GPO and the Mansion House in Dublin, Trim Castle in Meath, Powerscourt Waterfall in Wicklow, Athenry Castle in Galway and Grianán of Aileach in Donegal. The iconic buildings will be illuminated with projections of reimagined, contemporary Irish imagery such as Ogham lettering, phrases and typography, and captured on film for presentation at the festival.

TikTok's €500,000 investment in Solas: Awakening Ireland will also fund creative community projects across the country. TikTok will work with St. Patrick’s Festival to distribute funding to support and sustain local artistic and live events communities impacted by the pandemic, whilst inspiring a creative society who have embraced TikTok.

Solas: Awakening Ireland will sit within this year’s St. Patrick’s Festival taking place virtually, and will be recorded and broadcast globally on St. Patrick’s Festival TV (SPF TV), a dedicated online TV channel at www.stpatricksfestival.ie, from March 12th – 17th.

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Leo Varadkar TD said: “This year’s St. Patrick’s Festival will be online, but we can still make the most of it. I know that many artists and community groups around the country have been working really hard to make it just as special as previous years. The €500,000 funding from TikTok is huge and will be a real boost."

Global hashtag challenge

To celebrate the partnership with the St. Patrick’s Festival, TikTok will also launch a global hashtag challenge calling on creators around the world to celebrate Irish culture and illuminate what makes the Irish population so unique. The challenge will see a host of creators from across Ireland and the wider diaspora, create their own original content under #AwakenIreland.

Soulé: Headline Performance

As part of Solas: Awakening Ireland, one of Ireland's freshest musical talents, Soulé, will create a live performance bursting with colour and light. Filmed at the all-new home of the Complex, one of Dublin's key creative, arts and performance spaces, Solas x Soulé will feature brand new and yet-to-be-heard tracks that tell her personal story of love and life in a modern Ireland through expertly crafted choreography, a world-class set and sophisticated lighting design.

Community Fund

Outside of the festival programme, TikTok will support St. Patrick’s Festival on illuminating and uplifting creative communities. TikTok will lend support to community groups across Ireland, bringing them together with multi-disciplinary Irish artists, creators and makers, to build creative projects throughout the summer. These projects will be captured on TikTok as they develop, with the finished projects presented as part of the programme for St. Patrick’s Festival 2022.

Cormac Keenan, Head of Trust and Safety at TikTok said: "As part of our mission to inspire creativity and bring joy, we are delighted to partner with St. Patrick’s Festival to power the Solas: Awakening Ireland. Solas will see Ireland immersed in light through spectacular projections in locations across the nation as well as a special performance by celebrated Irish artist, Soulé.

Due to the pandemic, there are now tens of thousands unable to work in the live events and arts sectors in Ireland, with the majority of performing artists impacted by cancelled or postponed events. As a significant employer in Ireland, TikTok will also be working with St. Patrick’s Festival to distribute funding to community projects nationwide throughout 2021 - supporting the recovery of local creative groups most in need. We are unbelievably proud to partner with St. Patrick’s Festival and have TikTok at the heart of our most celebrated National Day in Ireland.”

Anna McGowan, Interim Director of St. Patrick’s Festival, said: “St. Patrick’s Festival is delighted to join forces with TikTok on Solas: Awakening Ireland, a celebration of light and hope. The aim of the Solas programme at St. Patrick’s Festival 2021 is to awaken Ireland with a sense of hope and optimism. It will celebrate our contemporary culture and those who have influenced us, through magnificent lighting displays and artistic performances.

TikTok has brought joy and sparked creativity for many, particularly during this challenging year. We can’t wait to share the beauty of the Solas programme with Ireland and the world from March 12th, along with all 100+ events in this year’s St. Patrick’s Festival line-up.”

Solas: Awakening Ireland at St. Patrick’s Festival 2021, supported by TikTok will be aired globally on SPFTV from March 12th – 17th on www.stpatricksfestival.ie.