There’s a lot going on in Dublin this weekend. Start planning your weekend now! find some ideas here.
FESTIVALS
Oktoberfest Dublin
The summer is ending but that doesn’t mean there is no more festivals to enjoy. Oktoberfest is back in Dublin for its 8th edition! Needless to say the event is always lots of fun. The Festival kicks off this Thursday (15.09) and runs for 18 days bringing the best of the German culture. You will find live music with the band Mostlandsturmer, traditional food and obviously loads of beer.
Feel free to wear your traditional Bavarian costume and have fun!
Thursday (15.09) to Sunday (02.10)
Admission Free
IFSC Docklands
Lúnasa Festival 2016
Lúnasa is a Music & Arts Festival that will offer a lot of attractions such as holistic workshops & therapies, theatre performances, a delicious variety of gourmet food, late-night forest parties, boutique camping and fancy dress. Alongside 50+ Irish Djs, Bands, Circus Performers & Artists, throughout 7 Stages nestled deep within 3 enchanted realms. This is a family friendly event with children’s entertainments, campsite and stage for the children.
2 nights and 3 days of camping and loads of music and arts. Are you up for it?
See Lunasa Festival website for full lineup, tickets & more.
Friday (16.09) to Sunday (18.09)
Tickets: €60 – Saturday & Sunday (Day Ticket w/ Camping on Saturday) / €95 – Weekend Camping Ticket / General Admission. Check out the website for family or group discounts.
Dublin Bus (Return ticket) – €20
Bellurgan Park, Bellurgan, Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland
BlueFire Street Fest 2016
If you don’t have plans for Saturday but would love to enjoy a one day Festival full of music and arts you should check out that BlueFire Street Festival which is back this year at Smithfield Square, Dublin. The family friendly event offers workshops, street performances, graffiti jam, pop up performances, youth talks, market fair (with food, craft & art), kids area and a line-up of musicians, bands and performances playing a variety of musical styles.
Saturday (17.09) – 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Free Admission
Smithfield Square, Smithfield Square, Dublin, Ireland
CULTURE NIGHT
Culture Night is a free, country wide event, on 16th of September, that promotes culture and the enjoyment of it. Arts and cultural organisations open their doors until late with hundreds of free events, tours, talks and performances for you, the family and friends to experience. Enjoy a late night of free cultural events in towns and cities across Ireland.
If you’re interested then check out the programme at the Culture Night website by region and find out what this event has to offer near you!
Smithfield Square Playground at Culture Night
How about something cultural on a Friday evening? The Smithfield Square will be hosting an event with interactive drop-in activities including drumming, capoeira, salsa and hip-hop dancing, Makeshop Doodlebot workshops for youngsters, Tetrahedron structure build along with a 3D map of Dublin, fencing, an art zone and a whole area dedicated to mouth-watering international and domestic gourmet food.
Make sure to explore the different zones in Smithfield Square which are: Sports Zone, Drumming Zone, Art Zone, Interactive Zone, Dance Zone and Circus Zone.
The Culture Night Smithfield Playground will close with a fire spectacle by the Dublin Circus Project entitled Firefly a 30 minute choreographed fire spectacle featuring 5 performers, Fire hoop, Fire Fans, Fire Staff, Fire Poi, Fire Skipping and more. Inspired by tribal themes, rock music and culture this is an expression of raw female power and love of freedom and fire!
Friday (16.09) – 5:00 pm to 9:45 pm
Free Admission
Smithfield Square, Dublin 7
TO DANCE
Paul Van Dyk & John O’ Callaghan at The Wright
If you want to dance your socks off this weekend, how about a trance night at the largest night club in Dublin? This Friday The Wright Venue presents Paul Van Dyk and John O Callaghan Live.
Paul van Dyk is a German Grammy Award-winning electronic music DJ, record producer and musician who was named the World’s No. 1 DJ in both 2005 and 2006.
John O’Callaghan is an Irish musician and DJ who has picked up the Best DJ awards at the Irish Dance Music Awards for 3 consecutive years; decisively conquered the notoriously competitive testing ground of Ibiza and was the first Irishman to play Trance Energy.
Sounds good! Doesn’t it?
Friday (16.09) – 10:00 pm to 3:00 am
Tickets: €20 – €25 at eventbrite.ie
The Wright Venue – South Quarter, Airside Retail Park, Swords, Co. Dublin
Green Velvet At Opium Rooms
Opium Rooms is usually a cool venue to go dance and this Friday is no different. They will have a lot of house and techno music with the DJ Green Velvet supported by the DJs Tiago Black Kaily and Dan Stritch. Georgie Burgess will take over the Garden for his first all night long set.
Promo: Cocktail of the week €5 & Two for one cocktails from 11-12pm every Friday & Saturday
Friday (16.09) – from 11:00 pm
Tickets: Tickets: €18
Opium Rooms – Liberty Lane, Dublin 2
The RnB Club x Souletiquette
This Saturday night The RnB Club and Souletiquette teams up to provide you with loads of ’90s RnB, Hip Hop, Neo-Soul & G-Funk.
Check out the rooms at the Yamamori Tengu:
Room 1— Classic ’90s Hip Hop & RnB w/ Stevie G (Soul Jamz Records) & Papa Lou (The RnB Club)
Room 2—Future RnB & Hip Hop sounds w/ Souletiquette featuring Selvsse (UK), Mona-Lxsa, Djscorpio Abi, Rinkie Leo, ILL DIAM, Sam Ojo + more TBA.
On arrival there will be a limited supply of letterpress printed membership cards & screen printed t-shirts / tote bags, all completely free! Also expect gin & juice, P&P, Funktion1 soundsystem & more.
Optional dress code—black / white & lots of swag!
You will hear Biggie, Beyonce, J Dilla, D’Angelo, Outkast, TLC, Brandy, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Destiny’s Child, Aaliyah, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Mary J Blige, The Pharcyde, The Roots, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Lauryn Hill, Wu-Tang Clan, Donell Jones, Mos Def, 2PAC, LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, 702, Gangstarr, Ginuwine, Montell Jordan, SWV, Junior M.A.F.I.A. and many more.
www.soundcloud.com/souletiquette
Saturday (17.09) – 10:30 pm to 3:00 am
Tickets: 6 – 12 euros – eventbrite.ie
Yamamori Tengu – 37 Strand Street Great, Dublin
MUSIC
The Headhunters
This band have gone down in history as one of the most influential jazz-funk fusion bands of all time and will be playing at The Sugar Club this Thursday.
The Headhunters has influenced the sound of acid-jazz and such musicians as Grammy- Award winning artists, Esperanza Spalding and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews.
Their debut album titled Head Hunters (1973), is one of the best-selling jazz/fusion records of all time, the first jazz album to reach platinum status. In 2003, the album was ranked number 498 in Rolling Stone magazine’s book on the 500 greatest albums of all time.
If you like the music of these guys see below the details of the event:
Thursday (15.09) – 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Tickets: €25 – Book here
The Sugar Club – 8 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2
Note Productions & Synth Eastwood present: Music For 18 Machines
Music for 18 Machines is a reimagining of Steve Reich’s 1976 modernist classic Music for 18 Musicians. Reich’s work is a blueprint of the minimalist movement an exploration of pattern and process which morphs into a psychoacoustic experiment that posits the question ‘what happens when a group of musicians are asked to perform like machines?’
Music for 18 Machines reverses this process somewhat and seeks to coax an expressive and emotive performance from 18 electronic instruments triggered by a single sequencer.
The project was conceived by Simon Cullen (Synth Eastwood) and he is joined for the performance by Neil O’ Connor (Somadrone) as they revoice the piece for 18 synthesisers. They are also joined by visual artist Anthony Murphy (Shadowlab), who has created a new illustrative interpretation of the processes and patterns embedded in the work.
2016 marks the 40th anniversary of the debut performance of Music for 18 Musicians as well as Steve Reich’s 80th birthday. Come celebrate this landmark minimalist piece in this unorthodox format on the 15th of September 2016 at the Button Factory in Temple Bar.
Thursday (15.09) – 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Tickets: €15 – Book here
The Button Factory – Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Opera in the Open at Culture Night 2016
If you are an Opera fan you will be delighted to know that Dublin City Council‘s Opera In The Open will return on Culture Night 2016 to present another fantastic selection of staged scenes from classic operas. The evening’s Opera excerpts will be narrated in English so that the story can be easily followed.
Friday (16.09) – 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Free Admission
Amphitheatre Dublin City Hall – Dublin Civic Office, Wood City Quay, D8
CULTURE
Culture Night 2016 at Dublin Castle with RTÉ & Ireland 2016
To celebrate this special centenary year, Dublin Castle will be transformed for Culture Night 2016, filling its historic walls with music, theatre and words. Visitors of all ages can explore the staggering open-air concert and myriad of workshops, talks and readings dotted throughout this majestic building and its surrounds including Dubh Linn Gardens and the Chester Beatty Library.
Presented by RTÉ in partnership with Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin City Council, Ireland 2016 and The Office of Public Works.
See the full programme here
Friday (16.09) – 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Tickets: Free. Book your ticket here
Dublin Castle – Dame St, Dublin 2
Happenings Centenary Cinema – Adam & Paul w/ Lenny Abrahamson
Multi-award winning and Oscar Nominated Director Lenny Abrahamson (Room) will attend this screening of his critically acclaimed film ‘Adam and Paul’ in support of Peter McVerry Trust.
Lenny with be joined by Peter McVerry Trust, Head of Communications, Francis Doherty, in a panel discussion to highlight the increasing homelessness issue in Ireland. This event will be a great opportunity for everyone to support this hugely worthwhile cause, while learning how we can all help to become a part of the solution. Also in discussion will be the recent international success of the Irish Film industry, which has been spear headed by Lenny Abrahamson and Ed Guiney and their four time Oscar nominated film ‘Room’.
As a part of this event, Happenings will be donating €500.00 plus 15% of the total gate to the Peter McVerry Trust to assist with their mission of reducing homelessness and harm caused by drug misuse and social disadvantage.
Gates will open at 6:30 pm, with the panel scheduled to start at 7:15 pm. The film is scheduled to start around 8 pm (when the sun sets).
Friday (16.09) – 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Tickets: €5.80 – Book here
Herbert Park – Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Free Outdoor Screening: Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
I love outdoor screenings! This Sunday Light House Cinema will screen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory at 1pm in Smithfield Square as a tribute to the memory of the wonderful actor Gene Wilder. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon!
Supported by Dublin City Council. This is a free, family-friendly event and alcohol is strictly prohibited, but you can bring loads of sweets!
Sunday (18.09) – 1:00 pm to 2:45 pm
Free Admission
Light House Cinema – Market Square, Dublin 7
MARKET
Temple Bar Food Market
My recommendation for a market this week is the Temple Bar Food Market. There you can either buy products to cook at home or grab a nice lunch and heal that hangover from Friday night. At the market you will find Irish and ethnic food including healthy stuff. It is worth checking out if you have not been there yet.
Every Saturday (17.09) – 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Meeting House Square, Dublin 2
explorindublin.com 