Funny Business (Fraser Hooper)

If you have ever wondered what a boxing match between a human fish and a stunt duck looks like, Fraser Hooper’s Funny Business is your answer. This is outdoor clown theatre at its most physically inventive - slapstick, character work, and circus skill wrapped up in a show that The Times UK called “our festival favourite.” It plays on the grounds of Glebe House & Gallery in Gartan as part of the 39th Earagail Arts Festival, one of the longest-running arts festivals in Ireland. Good for kids, good for adults, good for anyone who has forgotten how funny a person can be with their body and a perfectly timed silence.

What to expect

Fraser Hooper is an internationally award-winning performer who has taken home silver at the Saint Paul des lax Circus Festival in France, a People’s Choice Award at Cirque du Val d’Oise, and bronze at the Wuhan International Acrobatic Art Festival in China. Funny Business is his signature solo show - a 45-to-60-minute outdoor performance packed with eccentric dancing, physical gags, and what Hooper himself describes as “the silliest boxing match you have ever seen.” The setting makes it something else: the woodland garden of Glebe House & Gallery borders Lough Gartan, and a clown performing against that backdrop of beech trees and lake light is not something you stumble across every summer.

Performances take place on Saturday 18 July and Sunday 19 July at 3pm. If you want to go deeper, Hooper also leads an all-ages Clown Workshop (5 to 95 years welcome) on Saturday 18 July at 11am at the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny - a genuine chance to learn the craft before watching it done by a master.

Getting there

Glebe House & Gallery is in Gartan, roughly 18 km from Letterkenny on the R251. The site is signposted from the Churchill road. Free parking is available on site. Public transport to Gartan is limited, so a car is the practical option for most visitors. If you are coming from further afield, Letterkenny is the nearest town with accommodation and bus connections from Dublin and Derry.

While you’re in Donegal

Gartan is also the birthplace of St. Colmcille, and the Colmcille Heritage Centre is a short drive away. The landscape around Lough Gartan is some of the quietest and most rewarding in the county. There is more to see in Donegal and across Co. Donegal.

Good to know

• Dates: Saturday 18 July & Sunday 19 July 2026
• Time: 3pm
• Tickets: From €10; book at eaf.ie or call the festival box office on +353 (0)74 912 0777
• Clown Workshop: Saturday 18 July, 11am, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (book separately via eaf.ie)
• Venue: Glebe House & Gallery, Gartan, Co. Donegal - free parking on site
• The performance is outdoors; dress for the weather