A brand new festival, which is being hailed as a “world first” will take place in Limerick in March next year. Among the curators is the well-known Danish futurist Anne Lise Kjaer

Details were released today of the Limerick Electronic Arts Festival (LEAF). The first edition of the brand new, annual event will take place from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 March, 2020.

Limerick will take centre stage for the festival, which is expected to attract over 20,000 participants to the city. LEAF is being organised by the Limerick-based CWB, which is run by Joe Clarke, Paul Boland, Conor Glennon and Brian Barnes. CWB were responsible for Féile 2019, which featured Sinéad O’Connor, Horslips and The Stunning, among a host of leading Irish artists, in September.

LEAF 2020, which is strongly supported by Limerick City Council, will occupy venues across the city of Limerick. The line-up will include internationally renowned DJs, musicians and bands, as well as leaders in social media innovation and E-Sports, and innovators in tech. The festival is seen as a world-first, in that will showcase the electronic arts, alongside the intersection of technology and artistic expression.

The ambition is that LEAF will become the catalyst for the exploration of electronic arts: from video games to projection mapping, performance art to the work of a variety of content creators. The Danish futurist Anne Lise Kjaer – a renowned Ted Talker and UN ambassador, who is widely respected in the global forecasting community – will curate the event.

Among the exciting venues that have been chosen for the event is the old Cleeve’s Factory, situated on O’Callaghan Strand in Limerick. It has long lain forgotten and neglected, but during LEAF 2020, it will be transformed into an urban festival setting, with a cutting edge installations, events and workshops.

From Thursday to Sunday, music fans will – we are promised – be entertained by some of the world’s best electronic artists, digital artists and visionaries.

There will be a conference within the event – the Business of Electronic Arts conference – on Friday 6 March. This will see leading content creators and speakers from the fields of technology, government and creatives join panel discussions, keynote interviews and talks. LEAF 2020 will provide a platform for people to discuss how technology can and should be used for generations to come. It will provide an opportunity for attendees to network with leaders in their field.

There will also be a Youth Conference and Workshop on Saturday 7 March. Here, Limerick College of Further Education will host talks, panels and demonstrations around the theme of our digital future. There will be talks and panels on E-sports, YouTube, music creation and the world of online collaboration and monetisation from Debop to Spotify.

Meanwhile, the Chime Out Choir will, we are told, "join Limerick people from all walks of life and unite them as one community in song.”

This project is described as "an interactive, fun and meaningful community experience that will aim to establish a sense of meaning and belonging, of parity and pride in what our city has to offer participants and (give) spectators a chance to share a part of something momentous." The multi-generational choir will perform a number of classic dance anthems accompanied by a live DJ, visual projections and a light show.

LEAF 2020 will also deliver a free music trail showcasing some of the most cutting-edge artists in Ireland today. Curated by Nialler 9, venues across the city will welcome the many performers taking part in this world-first festival. Tara Stewart of 2fm will also be involved.

"With a host of fringe events, from a discussion on ATARI’s early days in the mid-west to the links between LK and LA,” the organisers say, "LEAF 2020 is a festival Limerick can call its own – positioning the city as a world leader in electronic arts."