Organizers of the Clonakilty's Random Acts of Kindness Festival have been overwhelmed by the response to their idea for an event aimed at fostering positivity.
"We were hoping for some kind of small chain reaction but the response has been absolutely incredible," organizer Ger O'Donovan told the Irish Independent.
The event, created by Macra na Feirme and Clonakilty Youth Club members, started with a near-zero budget and no major corporate sponsors. The admission fee to the festival is only a smile and an act of kindness. It started Friday and runs until today(Sunday).
"The idea is for people to receive a random act of kindness on the street. It could be a cinema ticket or a token for a coffee. But they get a card asking them, in return, to undertake an act of kindness for someone else," organizers John and Theresa O'Leary explained.
Cards distributed to festival-goers say: "Now it's your turn to pay it forward."
"The reason the concept has caught attention is that it reminds everyone our greatest natural resource in Ireland is our people -- and you don't need to spend huge amounts of money to enjoy yourself," said Mr O'Donovan.
Three bands -- Re Nua, The BPositives and StanZa Traffic -- donated their performances for free and several volunteers agreed to provide face-painting, bubble displays, street theatre, historical walks and music.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.irishcoffeekid | Jul 24, 2012, 10:12 PM EDT
oh, and before some of the usuals jump on my comment, i dont mean leaving a tip for a meal, i mean giving something extra as a random act of kindness is the name of a loved one or something like that. e.g. last week there was a report on the paper where a young guy dying asked his family to give whatever money was in his account to someone they thought needed it. he didnt have much money in his account so they went live online with it, loads donated to it and they started giving out that money to others who were having hard times paying bills, had kids with no toys etc. small things matter
irishcoffeekid | Jul 24, 2012, 10:09 PM EDT
love it - i see a lot of that happening here in the usa. people giving decent tips to kind wait staff etc. it only takes something small to make someone smile and feel life isnt so bad after all. if every town/city in every country did it, we'd all be a lot better off - let's keep it moving!
Searlit | Jul 23, 2012, 09:01 PM EDT
I love random acts of kindness.
Scrivner | Jul 22, 2012, 04:11 PM EDT
Wow! It needs to catch on around the world.
christilcaugh | Jul 22, 2012, 01:00 PM EDT
How very cool!! We all need this!