Mad Pride

The Mad Pride Ireland festival was started in Cork with the aim to "celebrate difference, stop loneliness". Above all, the message of the festival is that it is perfectly normal to be mad, and that the human rights of those suffering from mental health issues should be respected.

The 2013 festival was launched today with a Family Fun Day in Fitzgerald's Park in Cork. They had a beautifully sunny day for it. There were food and craft stalls, facepainters, musicians, street theatre shows, puppet-making workshops, yoga classes for all ages, and lots of very happy children and "grown-up" children running around having fun in the sun.

This little pixie was having a great time with her Daddy, near where we were sitting on the grass. Well, we weren't sitting for long, as a fantastic local band had us on our feet letting completely loose to some funk, soul, and reggae classics in no time!