Lurgan & North Armagh George Russell Festival Society (GRFS)

The Society runs an Annual Festival in Lurgan, County Armagh centred around the heritage of George Russell – better known as ‘A.E.’.

Russell, from Lurgan, was one of Ireland’s most important public figures over the period 1895-1930, a celebrated writer, poet and painter. He became the intellectual powerhouse of his time and the key figure in Ireland’s cultural revival.

The festival includes various talks and a historic walking tour as well as poetry readings and ‘open mic’ nights. As Russell was a fantastic artist as well as poet, author, editor and publisher, the Festival includes exhibitions of his art.

The Spot-lit helped to build the AE Annual Festival in Lurgan to be a successful and sustainable literary tourism offering. The first step was to establish a strong online presence. Spot-lit also helped to create a literary hub based on AE’s myriad literary connections within a 20-30 mile radius of Lurgan working with the support of the John Hewitt Society.