The Dublin Community Blog

The Norsemen are upon us again! As last year, the Dublin Viking Festival is taking place next weekend.

The Dublin Viking Festival takes place on Dublin’s Wood Quay and Temple Bar from Friday the 16th October until Sunday 18th October 2009.The Vikings were the first settlers at Dublin and old reminants of their settlement have been found at Wood Quay in Dublin City Centre on the site of Dublin City Council’s civic offices.

Dublin City Council invites you to come down and explore our Viking Heritage from 12 noon – 6pm October 16th, 17th & 18th for a family fun packed weekend.

I’ve been there last year, and have to confess that it is a bit dull for a veteran roleplayer like me; plus the post-modern surroundings of the civic offices are not really helping in recreating the image of the Viking world. On the other hand it was great fun for the kids, and it seems the festival is generally more aiming at family entertainment than drinking mead from the skulls of slain enemies. And if there’s the same re-enactment group as last year, you’ll get at least an overview of how to form a propper Viking shield wall:

After the namesake closed it’s Munich’ gates last weekend, it’s time for Dublin to have its share of German delicacies. Especially German beer. And this is possible at the Paulaner Oktoberfest at the IFSC, which is back from tomorrow on.

Last year the Paulaner Oktoberfest took Dublin by surprise! Over 70,000 people visited this unique free Bavarian event. Make sure you don’t miss it this year. It starts on Thursday the 8th and runs until the 18th of October in George’s Dock in the IFSC.
Experience traditional German fun, food and entertainment with over 30 German barmaids dressed in traditional Dirndl’s!

And this is not all of German-themed entertainment in town this weekend. Our friends over at the Porterhouse are launching their own version of the Oktoberfest tomorrow as well. And for this occasion they have the delicious Früh Kölsch from my hometown Cologne on tap – not very Bavarian, but nevertheless very tasty.

Disclaimer: Dublinblog is not responsible for any adverse health effects you may experience after having a couple of steins. Please enjoy your German beer responsibly.

Commencing next Saturday is this year’s Festival of World Cultures. Featuring the (un)usual mix of music, food, fairs, theatre, dance and street art from all over the world (and Ireland), this is a perfect occasion to hop on the DART and pay a visit to Dun Laoghaire. The foody that I am, I’m especially looking forward to the Feast Americana and the International Food Traders. You can download the full festival programme (PDF) here, and you can also become a fan on Facebook.

If you are around Temple Bar on Sunday make sure to check out events at Meeting House Square where Dublin’s first Ukulele Festival takes place.

Along with the main Ukulele Hooley gigs, which will cost €15 to attend, there are musical workshops planned for Saturday 15th in the Odessa Club, an Open Mic session that same night in Shebeen Chic restaurant on Georges St.

Further details about the Hooley can be found here.

After the brilliant Street Performance Festival one week ago the next interesting festival in this year’s event calendar will start next week – the Temple Bar Circus Festival.

For four action-packed summer days Dublin’s Cultural Quarter will echo with peals of laughter and gasps of amazement as the streets and spaces spring to life, offering you the chance to experience a full and exciting spectrum of circus skills; from dazzling acrobatics and aerial shows, daring Chinese pole and contortion, to outdoor movies and musical mayhem!

An colourfull mixture of acrobatics, dance acts and even outdoor movies will be on display in Temple Bar from July 9th to July 12th – and the best thing about it is that’s everything for free! You will find the complete programme (PDF) here.

Every year, the month of June is packed with festivals and other events here in Dublin. At DublinBlog, we may not be able to be at everything, but we’d like to alert you to as many as we can and then ask YOU to give us feeback on your experience of these events.

This weekend sees the end of Trinity College’s first annual Shakespeare Festival, which has offered both free open-air (the way Shakespeare was meant to be performed!) and indoor ticketed performances, as well seminars and other related events. CLICK HERE to see the event calendar on Google. Read the rest of this entry »

Might be worth a look if you’re looking for something to do this weekend! Weather forecasts are looking good, and I’d love to have a poke around some of the tall ships along with the Le Aoife.

http://www.dublindocklands.ie/maritimefestival/

There’s an outdoor market, along with some street entertainment. Pat Liddy will be holding walking tours of the Docklands area over the weekend.

Next weekend, the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar will be screening four state-of-the-art Anime/Manga movies in the course of the Japanese Anime Weekend, amongst others the brilliant “Ghost in the Shell 2″.

This event offers Irish audiences a rare chance to see four 21st-century anime movies on the big screen, where their artistry can be fully appreciated. The films are different in style, approach and content, but they represent a snapshot of the current state of this art form.

There will also be 2 supporting lectures to provide background to this cultural phenomenon, “A brief history of post-war Japanese animation” and “Japanese animation for adults” on Saturday and Sunday between screenings.

Seasons Greetings to one and all! This is just a quick post to let you know of a very rewarding alternative to bringing your kids/siblings/nieces/nephews etc to see Santy at the local shopping centre.

I spent the afternoon with three nephews at the DSPCA Cat and Dog home in Rathfarham where we met Santa, saw lots of cats, dogs, goats, geese and other animals who live at the shelter, had some cocoa and cookies and learnt a little about the DSPCA’s tireless work around the city and county.

Admission is very reasonable- €5 for adults and €12 for children (which includes the visit to santa, their cookies and a present). There are also free goody bags for pet owners with all manner of treats inside.  Most importantly, your money is going to a very, very worthy cause at the time of year when its resources are stretched to the absolute limit and literally every cent counts towards rescuing an abused or abandoned animal. 

Book online here for the last available dates- Sunday 14th, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st December (or just make a donation!).

 

 

 

This weekend the new Analog Festival is taking place at the Grand Canal Square in Dublin’s Docklands, the chq building and the Sugar Club. One of the highlights is definitively the live-performance of Hal Willner’s Rogue’s Gallery, the line-up featuring sich illustrous names as Lou Reed, Tim Robbins (!) and Shane McGowan. That’s some nice pirate shanties to listen to…For myself, I am definetively looking forward to Saturday’s peformance of Danish Ambient/Electro-minimalists Elfterklang. Sunday’s programme will conclude with a free performance of “the real gypsy kings” Taraf De Haïdouks.

If you are more into visual arts, the Irish Museum of Modern Art has extended its opening times for the summer, now closing its doors at 8 PM – so there’s plenty of time to see the current exhibitions of Janaina Tschäpe and Miquel Barceló, for example.