The free Mind the Gap Operetta will be running again next Friday night, as will a few other public art exhibitions in conjunction with Fringe Fest. And yes, there will also be plenty of buskers and stag do/hen party folks around next weekend. Can’t guarantee that we’ll see another group of Austin Powers look-a-likes running around (anybody else see Elvis suddenly appear in that video?), but in Temple Bar, you just never know.

Africa Day at Dublin Castle took place yesterday and was great craic altogether. A celebration of African culture and tradition, the place was packed to the brim – there was a 20 minute queue to get in when we arrived at around 3pm. According to RTÉ, over 7, 000 people attended. There were stalls displaying traditional crafts, clothing and everyday utensils, short films and exhibitions, South African wine tastings and sporting events. The main stage hosted a great mix of African and Irish acts – from traditional Malawian Dance Performances to Irish hip hop group Millionaire Boyz and Irish trad lads Kila.

it ended with performances from Mundy (who opened his set by saying “Should I just sing Galway Girl and go home?”), Republic of Loose and Sinead O’Connor.

According to the 2006 census, almost 42,000 of the people living in Ireland were born in Africa.

There are a few more pics on the Dublin Blog Flickr.

Some pretty cool stuff going on in Dublin this weekend if you’re about.

The second annual Dublin City Soul Festival is in full swing and lots of events will be taking place in various venues around the city.  These include a Soul Jam and a (completely free) Soul Picnic! Click here for a programme.

Then there’s Africa Day @ Dublin Castle. Another great, free event, you enter through an African village, filled with stands from Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Then there will be some cracking live performances from Sinead O’Connor, the wonderful Kila and those crazy but brilliant boys from Republic of Loose. There’s lots more and you can download a PDF of the programme here.

Following the success of their first event on Grafton Street last month, the folks at Dublin Improv are planning another public “freeze” tomorrow, Saturday March 21st. The venue this time is Dundrum Shopping Centre.

If you’d like to take part, please make your way to the Dundrum or Ballally Luas stops at 2pm sharp tomorrow. A Dublin Improv agent will be on hand to give out further instructions on the freeze, including the exact location (which is being kept under wraps for now to maximise the effect!) The freeze may happen indoors or outdoors so come prepared for either.

And, if you happen to be shopping in Dundrum tomorrow afternoon, keep your eyes peeled for unusual goings on!

You have another opportunity to participate in a great show ‘Pearl’ in George’s Dock. It starts tomorrow at 7.30. Official Festival’s website requires (free) tickets for that show, but no one was checking them.

Take your children, they will love it.

If you can’t be in Dublin for the St Patrick’s festival parade and would like to be then don’t worry because RTE is going to stream all the fun live here. They will also, when available, stream other parades around the world live at this link. The largest St Patrick’s Day parade in the world has already taken place in Savannah with some 250k participants. Other parades will take place between now and Monday so if you want to check out the parade in other cities just make sure you check when it is happening (roll your mouse over the city to find out when).

You will also be able to check out parades from all over Ireland too including the Skyfest fireworks spectacular taking place in Cashel in Tipperary. Nice one RTE.

Meanwhile here’s a couple of different You Tube videos from last year’s parade.

EDIT: putting up the videos is making the whole site go mad, so I will just link to them instead GGRGRRRR. The first is from Balcony TV and the other isn’t   If anyone of the Dublin Blog people know where I am going wrong and can fix this, please do.

I hope that this year St. Patrick impersonator will be the same person that last year. I call him ‘de Niro’

This year, I will actually be away for Paddy’s Day but wanted to share things that I have learned from previous Paddy’s Days experiences:

• If going to the parade, I would suggest getting there about two hours before it starts if you don’t want to be trying to see around lots of people.  Take some warm beverage with you as well since it gets cold standing around for two hours.   If you are standing near the barricades for the parade, children and  adults will try to push their way in so they can see better.
• Dress in layers.  The weather is every changing here in Dublin.  You need the warmth when outside, but not inside. 
• Bring rain and sun gear.  You’ll probably need both.
• Face painting, dressing in all green, or other forms of costumes makes it more likely that your picture will be taken many times, maybe even published on a blog. 
• After watching the parade, duck into an out of the way little cafe for lunch.  Most places along the parade line will be packed but if you go off the parade line, you can frequently find a little place to eat. Or just go to the pub (also probably very busy) and get lunch there.
• Go to the pub!!!!  Our first Paddy’s Day, we ended up at Cafe En Sein because it is a nicer place and wasn’t packed full of people.  We were rewarded with a Ceili band.
• A lot of places will have traditional music during Paddy’s Day weekend.  Check them out.  Just duck into a pub or two to feel the atmosphere and then move onto another if you don’t like the one you’re in (Dublin has enough pubs that you are sure to find one you like)
• Just wander around and see what you see.  Many of the windows in Temple Bar are decorated for the Six Nations and Paddy’s Day.  Have a wander around and you just may learn something while being entertained. 

Other people have posted about the official events.  I would highly recommend the Ceili Mor in Earlsfort Terrace.  It was fun last year to see people jumping around and dancing to the songs, even if you don’t know how to dance, it is still good fun!

With St Patrick’s Day (March 17th) coming closer and closer, the question is what on earth are you going to do over the five-day festival?

Whether you are from Dublin, living in Dublin or just coming for the craic there is bound to be something for everyone. Now an annual feature the funfair in Merrion Sq will run from Friday March 14th until Monday March 17th, there is a Babyrave in Temple Bar running from Friday till Sunday and the Ceili Mor will be held in Earlsfort Terrace on St Patrick’s Day itself.

But there is more, Kila play the Olympia on St Patrick’s Day, Mary Black is in the National Concert Hall. There are various Irish language and culture workshops and Irish language tours as well as speed dating As Gaeilge so brush up on your coupla focal.

You can find out lots lots more on the Festival website. You can book tickets for different events on the website though some things are already sold out. However don’t worry about not getting tickets for something you wanted, there will be something else to take its place. And let us not forget the stalwart of every St Patrick’s Day, the parade, two hours of fun and frolics and a long way away from the parade that used to happen when I first moved to Dublin 17 years ago. Then it was just groups of tourists with shamrock hats walking in formation waving, marching bands and being very very cold looking at the back of the people in front. Trust me it is a lot more fun now The festival map is located on the website at this link.

All of this is of course only a fraction of things that are taking place, different things will be happening all over the city and they will be hard to miss, just follow your nose.

Last year some of the Dublin Blog contributors were out and about taking pics and here is what we had to say last year. No doubt you can expect more of the same and probably even better this year. You can also see lots of images of St Patrick’s Day from all around the world on Flickr and don’t forget to keep an eye out over the festival on photographs as they are uploaded to our own Dublin Blog group on Flickr.

 

If you are wondering what is on the picture the answer is very Dublinish: Guinness!!

Michael Davidson of Florida University makes beer photos using microscope. What to say more? Check his beer website.