Event Guide: Opera Alfresco, Fringe Festival, You&Your Money, Liffey Descent, Gospel Mass

Hi all!

Another week over, a BUSY weekend ahead! September has firmly arrived, and with it some warm weather. Happy days! Now make the best of it and enjoy especially the outdoor events. A lot is happening this weekend, so don’t stay at home, but sample the cultural life in our Dublin.

I mentioned last week that there will be an interesting event this week as part of the Dublin Opera Festival: On Saturday from 11:00 – 19:00 the “Opera Alfresco” will take place on Smithfield Market.
Opera Alfresco is a family event which brings young and old together on a backdrop of classical and opera classics. As Mum and Dad soak up the relics of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in the main tent, kids can enjoy the One Voice in the outdoors or take part in the interactive opera sessions in the ‘interactive tent’.
And a bit more from the official description: “Good food from around the world washed down with good wine is what it is all about. Children being entertained while you let the Sunday afternoon slip away as day turns to night. Clowns, Jugglers, Street Entertainers, Musicians will surprise you as we celebrate the return of Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival. Let the story begin!” www.dublinopera.com
That sounds very interesting and even if you are not a big opera fan (yet?) you should try it out!

The Fringe Festival starts as well this weekend! Over 16 days a vast amount of events takes place in 40 venues throughout Dublin. Most events are ticketed, but the tickets are quite reasonable at typically not more than EUR 15. The events in the Spiegeltent at George’s Dock in the IFSC are a little more expensive, but to make up for this there are lots of free events also:
Dublin Fringe Festival Opening Event at the George’s Dock from 21:00 for 1hr (www.fringefest.com/shows/104)
Mamuska Nights in the Back Loft from 20:00 on Sat (8th) for 3 hrs (www.fringefest.com/shows/12)
Visual Arts projects are “The Lantern Project” along the Liffey Boardwalk (www.fringefest.com/shows/105), Somaticity in Wolfe Tone Park (www.fringefest.com/shows/106) and the Memory Laboratory in Filmbase (www.fringefest.com/shows/112).
The complete program is on www.fringefest.com

The You & Your Money show is on in the RDS (Main Hall) this weekend from Friday until Sunday and in the spirit of this Event Guide the entry is free – as it should be! ;-) And from the website it seems that the show will be worth a visit. expo.youandyourmoney.ie/ If you go on Sunday and park your car on the street a little away from the RDS (in Pay&Display zones), you won’t even have to pay for the parking!

If unusual sports events are more your thing, check this out: www.liffeydescent.com/ On Saturday up to 1,000 competitors from Ireland and overseas race the canoe/kayak course which combines both long sections of flat water and white water weirs. From the K Club in Straffan, via Celbridge, Leixlip and Lucan, the paddlers will make their way over 28 km until the Memorial Park near Phoenix Park. The race starts at 12:00 (as far as I can see) and finishes at 15:00 and especially the white water sections should be exciting to watch.

After a start on Friday evening with the discussion about Culture in Ireland that I mentioned in the midweek Event Alert, the Opera Alfresco on Saturday during the day, the Fringefest Opening Event on Saturday evening and a visit to You&Your Money on Sunday, you will be cultured out and will be in need of some spirituality!! For this you should come to the Gardiner Street Gospel Mass. After a long summer break, the Gospel Mass and Gospel Choir are back again on Sunday evening at 19:30 with the first mass after the break. I am involved in this on a weekly basis, so I am a little biased ;-) but if you are looking for a mass with a difference that comes additionally with uplifting music and singing of a great choir, your should come. If church is not really your thing, but Gospel Music is something you like, give the Gardiner Street Gospel Mass a chance. You can enjoy the mass no matter what your belief or religion is and everybody is welcome! The mass is at the top of Gardiner Street near the junction with Dorset Street in the “Temple-style” church with the columns on the outside.

And finally another alert for a ticketed but free event:
Have you seen any of the “Long way around”-episodes? Where two guys on motorbikes traveled from London to New York via Asia on motorbikes? Helene showed me a few of the episodes on DVD and they were fascinating. The same two guys went “A long way down”, a trip from John o’ Groats in Scotland, to Cape Town, South Africa
On October 11th, BMI are flying in adventurer and best selling author Charley Boorman for an exclusive travel talk. He’ll be in the Champagne Bar at Ron Black’s at 7pm talking about his latest motorcycle journey and TV series with Ewan McGregor, A Long Way Down, and their travels across the globe. There will be a drinks reception afterwards. For free tickets HURRY to www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qp178EXDHFe1jWjzekyTLg_3d_3d
I am not sure how long they will be available.

Did I promise too much when I said this weekends event guide will be bursting at the seams? ;-)

Enjoy your weekend!!

–Joerg