Dublin Event Guide 498: NYF Dublin, First Fortnight Festival, Live Music Trail, Free Wednesday, Green Drinks Dublin

If you are visiting Ireland from abroad or if you are here for your first New Year’s Eve, you will probably get disappointed. There will be NO fireworks display and there will be no central event. We have to watch the amazing Fireworks in Sydney, London, Berlin and New York if we want to see a spectacle like that.

So what is there to do? There is an outdoor gig at St. Stephen’s Green with live bands and it seems that tickets are still available for it for approx. EUR 27. Apart from that, it is the usual: Pubs and clubs! But watch out: There are a good few venues that provide exactly the same entertainment as every weekend throughout the year, but on New Year’s Eve they think a whopping admission charge is justified that they wouldn’t dare charging during the year. Avoid these venues! There are plenty others that don’t charge an admission charge.

The New Year Festival will be again a 3 day event in 2016. It will run from Friday (30 Dec) until Sunday (01 Jan) and will consist of non-free events and a few free events. Many of the free events required booking and are already booked out, but where I found still some available tickets for an event, it is mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide.

The main event New Year’s Eve, a gig with “Walking on Cars”, “The Blizzards”, Brian Deady and “Little Hours” is not on College Green this year, but at St. Stephen’s Green. Admission is not free, though.

Check out all details at nyfdublin.com/

Parkrun Ireland is organising free weekly runs in parks. It is a timed run over 5km and participation is completely free, but registration before your first parkrun is required.

A whole range of Parkruns take place every week (and if you know some more, please tell me):
+ Malahide Park, Dublin Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin
+ Cabinteely Park, Old Bray Road, Cabinteely, Dublin 18
+ Shanganagh Park, Shankill, Co. Dublin
+ Marlay Park, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, Co. Dublin
+ St. Anne’s Park, Raheny, Dublin 5
+ Father Collins Park, Donaghmeade/Clongriffin, Dublin 13
+ Tymon Park, Tallaght, Dublin 24

The Green Door Market is a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

The Belgard Weekend Market is an indoor market with stalls with handcraft (incl. designer jewellery, aran jumpers and wool, christening robes and shawls, cards and cross stitch), household items, bric and brac, furniture, flowers, make-up, clothes, shoes, showers, upholstery, toys, kitchens, cafe, army memorabilia, collectors items, sweets, handbags books, blinds, party shop, tools and more.

It is open every Saturday and Sunday and is located in the Glen Abbey complex (opposite Jacobs) on Belgard Road.

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30, and Sundays: 12:00-17:30.

One of Ireland’s oldest traditional styles of dance is the Sean Nós. At this year’s NYF Dublin there will be two hour long dancing classes, one at 11:00 and the other at 15:00.

Admission is free and no tickets are required.

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

A wish for Dublin is an art installation that will take place on O’Connell Street and in other locations across the City Centre. Visual Artist Deirdre Robb will discuss the great things that Dublin has to offer and invite people to make a wish for the future of the city. When the wish is made it will be hung on a tree with other wishes to create a collective voice of how Dublin could be shaped for the future.

Admission is free.

The Dublin City Buskers are taking over Meeting House Square on Saturday.

Dublin City Buskers is an association of the street performers of Dublin. They are singers, dancers, actors, poets, puppeteers, jugglers, magicians, circus acts, clowns, human statues, mime artists, balloon modellers, pavements artists, sculptors and buskers.

Admission is free.

Hard Working Class Heroes and First Music Contact have organised six weekends of “Dublin Live Music Trails” this year and the last one is at the New Years’s bank holiday weekend. The performances will be 20 minutes long and will be acoustic in all sorts of usual and unusual venues. It is feasible to see & hear ALL gigs because they are all in walking distance and consecutive.

Admission is free.

Line up and schedule for Saturday are:

12:00 National Gallery: Participant
12:40 The Little Museum of Dublin: New Pope
13:10 Visit Dublin Centre: Half of me
13:40 Irish Whiskey Museum: Paul Creane
14:10 Natural History Museum: Naoise Roo
14:45 Epic Ireland: Davina and the Messengers
15:20 GPO Witness History: Vulpynes
16:00 Custom House: Peppy
16:40 Hugh Lane: Wastefellow
17:10 Esquires Coffee Shop: Chris Kabs

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The second day will be on Sunday 01 Jan.

A map with all venues can be found on the website below.

During the New Year’s Festival on Saturday and Sunday there will be various pop-up events in Dublin. Fire Performances by “Those Fire Guys”, shows by the Dublin Circus Project and a variety of buskers will be on our streets (O’Connell Street, Henry Street, Grafton Street, Custom House, St. Stephen’s Green, Meeting House Square).

Admission is free.

A free family tour of the collection will take place in the National Gallery. The route is suitable for prams and strollers.

Admission is free.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher runs every Saturday. It is an alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

Every Saturday a kid’s book will be read in 27 Eason’s stores all over Ireland. In O’Connell Street the reading takes place at 14:00. In the other Eason Stores, the times vary between 11:00 and 15:00 (see website below). Suitable for age 0-6 with their parents.

Admission is free.

In St. Patrick’s Park, next to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, an aerial and contemporary circus performance will take place. Aerialist Emily Aoibheann will dance, move and glide through the air to the sounds of Mickey Kenney’s “The Counsel of Owls”.

Admission is free.

Many know the Luminosity light projections from the previous New Year’s Eve Festival at College Green when the “canvas” is the Trinity College. This year, the projection will take place at Custom House.

There will be Motion, graphics and 3D animation and at 17:00 and 19:15 on Saturday there will be the Sky Dance spectacle when Luminosity will turn into a 4D performance. Admission is free but tickets are required for that 1 hour show.

All tickets for the 17:00 show are gone, but there are still tickets for the 19:15 show and after the 1 hour show you can see Luminosity again without tickets. Tickets for the 19:15 show are available here.

A whole range of DJs will be in the Bernard Shaw on New Year’s Eve.

The list is Wino Wagon (Isle O’Man & Dark Delight), Repeater, Rory Bowens (NTS), DIP (Cait, Robbie Kitt and Enda Rowan), Sage & Daire, Fio n Jio,Calum Kennedy

Admission is free.

Melodic will play your “guilty pleasure” songs at their New Year’s Evening Extravaganza. Admission is free.

Another free party venue with DJs on New Year’s Eve is Dakota Bar.

The Odeon invites to a Masquerade Ball on New Year’s Eve. Admission is free and the masks will be provided. DJs will entertain you.

The Thin Lizzy Tribute Band “Silverbird” will play the NYE gig in Fibbers Magee. Admission is free.

Support will be provided by Lugosi who will cover MIsfits, CLutch and more.

The Luminosity light projection that has been at College Green on previous New Year’s Eves will take place at Custom House this year and at 17:00 and 19:15 a special Sky Dance spectacle will turn Luminosity into a 4D performance.

Admission for Sky Dance is free but ticketed. All tickets for the 17:00 show are gone, but there are still tickets for the 19:15 show and after the 1 hour show you can see Luminosity again without tickets. Tickets for the 19:15 show are available here.

There will be aerial acrobatics in combination with light projections.

The Martello in Bray has a great line-up of live gigs for the whole Christmas period, much better than many other bars and pubs, so check it out. The remaining gigs are:

Sat 31 Dec: Derek Quigley
Sun 01 Jan: Jamie Duff
Mon 02 Jan: Derek Quigley

Admission seems to be free.

The Workman’s Club is inviting to a New Year’s eve party upstairs with 6 DJ sets. Admission is free.

They also have the Hot Sprockets there with support from The Fontaines, but admission for that gig is EUR 15.

The Luna Boys will play a gig in the Stag’s Head on NYE and it seems that admission is free.

The Stillorgan Orchard has live music every Friday and Saturday. Many of the performers are established and very good bands. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below. Admission is always free.

VERNON JANE are a collection of talented musicians with influences like Jazz, Blues and Psychedelia. They’ve toured extensively in Ireland and will be in the Harbour Bar for New Year’s Eve.

Admission is free.

Leo O’Kelly & Anton Drennan will play the New Year’s Eve gig in McLoughlin’s.

Admission seems to be free.

In addition to the Saturday Car Boot Sale in Tallaght, Irish Car Boot Sales run a weekly Sunday Car Boot Sales in Ballymun.

Admission for buyers is free.

You have arrived in 2017! Well done ;-) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now you have to fill it with life and ideally make it better than 2016. Check the Feel Good Slot Section for some advise on how to set and achieve goals for 2017, it might help! :-)

First Fortnight is a great arts festival that wants to raise awareness for mental health issues. At the perfect time at the beginning of the year, First Fortnight will invite to a large variety of events and most of them are free (tickets are usually required, though).

On Sunday 01 Jan, the events are part of the NYF Dublin calendar of events. The festival will then continue until 20 January and all events can be found at www.firstfortnight.ie/2017-event-calendar/

The New Year Festival will be again a 3 day event in 2016. It will run from Friday (30 Dec) until Sunday (01 Jan) and will consist of non-free events and a few free events. Many of the free events required booking and are already booked out, but where I found still some available tickets for an event, it is mentioned in this Dublin Event Guide.

The main event New Year’s Eve, a gig with “Walking on Cars”, “The Blizzards”, Brian Deady and “Little Hours” is not on College Green this year, but at St. Stephen’s Green. Admission is not free, though.

Check out all details at nyfdublin.com/

The Belgard Weekend Market is an indoor market with stalls with handcraft (incl. designer jewellery, aran jumpers and wool, christening robes and shawls, cards and cross stitch), household items, bric and brac, furniture, flowers, make-up, clothes, shoes, showers, upholstery, toys, kitchens, cafe, army memorabilia, collectors items, sweets, handbags books, blinds, party shop, tools and more.

It is open every Saturday and Sunday and is located in the Glen Abbey complex (opposite Jacobs) on Belgard Road.

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

Every Sunday, the Merrion Square Open Air Art Gallery takes place. Up to 200 artists exhibit their paintings on the railings on three sides (West, North and East) of Merrion Square and you can just enjoy the exhibition or even buy.

The Drumcondra Village Market is an arts and crafts fair in the centre of Drumcondra. There will be Food Stalls, Flea Market, Vintage Clothing, Arts&Crafts and a Pop-Up Record Store.

Admission is free.

Paul Timoney, storyteller, artist and workshop facilitator, will run this workshop for children aged 6-12.

It is about “Stressed Out Steve” and “Anxious Anita”. They have made a New Year’s Resolution to try to stop worrying, but unfortunately they have already started to worry that it will be too difficult to stop worrying.

Admission to this worrying workshop will be free, but tickets are required via the link below. There are still tickets available for the two events at 11:00 and at 13:00. The 15:00 event is booked out.

(Parents must accompany children during the workshop.)

The well known Palestrina Choir sing every Sunday at the mass in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral. They sing complete masterworks by Mozart, Haydn, Dvorak, Palestrina, de Victoria, usually accompanied by Prof. Gerard Gillen on the organ, who often also plays a solo piece.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

A wish for Dublin is an art installation that will take place on O’Connell Street and in other locations across the City Centre. Visual Artist Deirdre Robb will discuss the great things that Dublin has to offer and invite people to make a wish for the future of the city. When the wish is made it will be hung on a tree with other wishes to create a collective voice of how Dublin could be shaped for the future.

Admission is free.

Beoga will be on the Meeting House Square stage for a Family Trad Gig. Find out more via the link below.

Admission is free.

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Sundays: 12:00-17:30. Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30.

Co-Motion is a great idea for an outdoors walking event that will uplift you and it will happen at 12:00 and again at 14:00 on Sunday.

Everyone has songs that lift us up when we’re feeling down. However, plugging in our headphones often isolates us from the world around us. At Co-Motion the opportunities is created to break down the barriers created by our headphones.

Come with your playlist of uplifting songs to St. Stephen’s Green. You will then be randomly assigned a walking partner and given a headphone splitter so that you both can enjoy each others playlist during a stroll around St Stephen’s Green.

Admission is free, but booking is required via the link below.

Hard Working Class Heroes and First Music Contact have organised six weekends of “Dublin Live Music Trails” this year and the last one is at the New Years’s bank holiday weekend. The performances will be 20 minutes long and will be acoustic in all sorts of usual and unusual venues. It is feasible to see & hear ALL gigs because they are all in walking distance and consecutive.

Admission is free.

Line up and schedule for Sunday are:

12:00 National Gallery: Cult Called Man
12:40 The Little Museum of Dublin: The Ocelots
13:10 Visit Dublin Centre: Train Room
13:40 Irish Whiskey Museum: Miles Graham
14:10 Natural History Museum: The Fontaines
14:45 Epic Ireland: SARAMAI
15:20 GPO Witness History: Maria Kelly
16:00 Custom House: BARQ
16:40 Hugh Lane: Maija Sofia
17:10 Esquires Coffee Shop: Paddy Dennehy & The Red Herring

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A map with all venues can be found on the website below.

Every Sunday, the National Botanic Gardens invite to two guided walks. The first one is at 12:00 and the second one at 14:30.

Admission is free.

During the New Year’s Festival on Saturday and Sunday there will be various pop-up events in Dublin. Fire Performances by “Those Fire Guys”, shows by the Dublin Circus Project and a variety of buskers will be on our streets (O’Connell Street, Henry Street, Grafton Street, Custom House, St. Stephen’s Green, Meeting House Square).

Admission is free.

If you regularly or occasionally buy books online, you can help the Dublin Event Guide hugely even without having to pay cent directly. In fact you even save money this way:

Buy your books from The Book Depository and get better prices and free (!!) delivery for all orders independent from the volume and when you click on the picture here before you buy, then 5% of what normally The Book Depository would get, they give back to the Dublin Event Guide. Everybody wins!

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

If you prefer Amazon to buy your books (for free postage you need to order a minimum of GBP 25), then use this Amazon link to help the Dublin Event Guide. Thanks!

The “Dublin Sketchers” is an informal group of (hobby) artists who go somewhere different in Dublin every Sunday (e.g. National Museum, Maritime Museum, Dublin Flea Market, Farmleigh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin Castle, Science Gallery, …), sketch for one to two hours and then meet up for coffee afterwards and discuss their sketches.

There are some hugely talented people among them and it is a great idea to meet up with others who have the same hobby. Find out on their website below or on their Facebook Page where they will meet and join them if you do some sketching/drawing yourself. I know that the Dublin Sketchers often use the Dublin Event Guide to find interesting free events and I am delighted to be able to help!

Every Sunday a free tour takes place in the Hugh Lane Gallery.

Admission is free and booking is not required, but places are limited, so early arrival is recommended.

The Dublin Gospel Choir and the gard Band are the main performers at this afternoon of family entertainment in St. Stephen’s Green. This New Year’s Day concert is a new addition to the NYF Dublin event and it is a great idea! Show the organisers by attending the event.

Admission is free.

Afternoon Jazz in Café en Seine. The Stella Bass Jazz Trio play every Sunday from 14:00-16:00 in Café en Seine in Dawson Street. Admission is free. A video is here www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8aKqtOB5S8

The Bagots Hutton Jazz Brunch takes place on Sundays from 12:00 with Jazz music from 14:30. The Noel Dumont Trio will perform a mix of jazz, soul and lounge music.

Admission is free.

Every Sunday two free guided tours will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The first one is at 15:00 and the second one at 16:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00.

Unlike the three branches of the National Museum, the National Print Museum is normally not free, but every Sunday there is a free public tour for the next few weeks. Every visit begins with a short audio-visual presentation where the audience can observe active retired printers providing practical demonstrations of machines from the Museum’s collection.

The Armagh Rhymers are a folk theatre ensemble and they will perform “The Mummers Play”. They are musicians, singers, dancers and storytellers.

Admission is free and no booking required. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

“Turner’s inspiration from music and theatre” with Adrian Le Harivel (Curator of British Art, National Gallery of Ireland) is the next Sunday Talk in the National Gallery.

Admission is free and no booking necessary.

The Disney Pixar movie “Inside Out” is an animated cartoon that brings you inside our mind.

The main character Riley is uprooted when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. She and her emotions struggle to adjust to the new life.

Admission to this outdoor film screening is free, but booking is required. Bring a blanket!!

Many know the Luminosity light projections from the previous New Year’s Eve Festival at College Green when the “canvas” is the Trinity College. This year, the projection will take place at Custom House.

There will be Motion, graphics and 3D animation.

“Admission” is free.

Every Sunday evening from 18:00-20:00, the Wiley Fox is hosting a trad session, where some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians will play for you.

Admission is free.

The Dixeland Jazzmen play a weekly gig in Sin E. Admission is free.

At the Jawbone Gig night in Arthur’s Pub, Acoustic Folk & Blues will be performed every Sunday. Admission is free.

www.facebook.com/pages/Jawbone-Dublin-Acoustic-Folk-Blues-Commune/724102984268967

The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir sings every Sunday from September to June at their “Gig in God’s Gaff”, a Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church at the top of Gardiner Street near the junction with Dorset Street.

The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir, one of the best known gospel choirs in Ireland will give you a chance to experience a mass with a difference. It is uplifting and inspiring and everybody is welcome independent from your level of religiousness or your relationship with the Catholic Church in other contexts.

Disclaimer: I am involved with the Gardiner Street Gospel Choir, so the description above MIGHT not be totally unbiased. But just take it from me, they are brilliant! ;-)

The Martello in Bray has a great line-up of live gigs for the whole Christmas period, much better than many other bars and pubs, so check it out. The remaining gigs are:

Sat 31 Dec: Derek Quigley
Sun 01 Jan: Jamie Duff
Mon 02 Jan: Derek Quigley

Admission seems to be free.

Every Sunday this singer-songwriter night takes place in the Bleeding Horse in Camden St. from 8.30pm. It is an Open mic night and performers can just turn up and put their name on the list for that night.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy downstairs in Stag’s Head, Dame Lane from 21:00 every week on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of that there is some free ice cream. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

The first show in 2017 will feature:

Headlining Act Rory O Hanlon, Paul Marsh, Peter Flanagan, Padraig Mac Liam and host Danny O’ Brien

Gin ‘n’ Juice play Hip Hop, Funk, Dance and cover the cream of Hip Hop from Snoop to Chic to Azealia Banks.

Admission is free.

“Rhythm Rocker at The Globe” is a weekly event on Sunday night in The Globe with live music (Rockabilly) and DJs. Admission is free.

The Rock ‘n’ Rock and Swing Band “The Jive Cats” will perform in the Mercantile every Sunday from 22:00.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Blues Cartel will be in Whelan’s again and will perform mostly a version of New Orleans R’n’B with a classic rock twist, sandwiched with swing, Rock’n’Roll, Soul, Funk, Blues and rap of all eras. Admission is free.

Because New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday and because we have so few public holidays in Ireland that we can’t afford to waste them, the public holiday that should have been yesterday will be observed/celebrated today.

So office workers have another day off, but unfortuantely people working in shops (and hospitals and many other sectors) never get the same good treatment. You should get a day in lieu, though!

I expect that nearly all shops will be open today and from tomorrow, life will be back to “normality”.

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

The Martello in Bray has a great line-up of live gigs for the whole Christmas period, much better than many other bars and pubs, so check it out. The remaining gigs are:

Sat 31 Dec: Derek Quigley
Sun 01 Jan: Jamie Duff
Mon 02 Jan: Derek Quigley

Admission seems to be free.

Song Cycle is a weekly Singer/Songriter showcase. The line-up is not always easily findable on the Whelan’s website, but admission is always free.

The Circle Sessions is an “Open Mic” that provides an opportunity for up and coming musicians, spoken word artists, poets and comedians to perform.

Come to this weekly show to perform or to simply watch a great mix of music, poetry, spoken word and comedy.

Admission is free.

Every Monday the Woolshed Bar hosts “The Comedy Shed”, usually with 3 headline acts.

Admission is free.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

Every Monday a Jazz Jam Session will take place in the Grand Social and you are invited to listen or even to participate. Admission is free for musicians and audience.

Instruments are supplied (drums (no cymbals), double bass, guitar amp, bass amp, PA system) and ideas and themes will be proposed prior to the session to the musicians who join the event on Facebook (see Facebook Page below).

Lee Meehan & Hugh Buckley will play Jazz and Soul in the Harbour Bar.

Admission is free.

An Open Trad Music Session is taking place every Monday in Mother Reilly’s. Admission is free.

Donal Kirk with band, including Anto Drennan are playing music from Lowell George Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Free, Bad Company, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Beatles, Bobby Bland, Vince Gill, Ray Charles, Etta James, Elvis, Ry Cooder, Dobie Gray, Guy Clarke, early ZZ Top, Dave Edmunds, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson.

Admission is free.

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

If you regularly or occasionally buy books online, you can help the Dublin Event Guide hugely even without having to pay cent directly. In fact you even save money this way:

Buy your books from The Book Depository and get better prices and free (!!) delivery for all orders independent from the volume and when you click on the picture here before you buy, then 5% of what normally The Book Depository would get, they give back to the Dublin Event Guide. Everybody wins!

www.bookdepository.com?a_aid=dubevg

If you prefer Amazon to buy your books (for free postage you need to order a minimum of GBP 25), then use this Amazon link to help the Dublin Event Guide. Thanks!

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher runs on Tuesday and Saturday. It is an alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

This is a weekly event in Buskers on the Ball. They have 5 table tennis table and are now running a social league on Tuesdays. Free play at the tables and drinks specials are available.

The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) continues to bring you Dublin Green Drinks on the first Tuesday of every month in J.W. Sweetman’s. Green Drinks is a monthly event in 711 cities around the world to bring people with an interest in green issues together.

This month’s topic is “Irish Grey Partridge Conservation Trust”

Kieran Buckley will talk about this Trust, which was established to promote the conservation of Ireland’s native game birds so that they remain an intrinsic part of Ireland’s Natural & Sporting heritage. Ireland’s two native game birds, grey partridge and red grouse are now classified as red listed birds of conservation concern, and the Trust is working to preserve them.

Meet up on the top floor of J.W. Sweetman’s. Doors open at 18:30 and the talk is at 19:00. Admission is free.

EveryTuesday at 19:00, The Dublin Language Exchange takes place in the Czech Inn. It is the biggest free meeting of people from all around Dublin that are interested in learning languages and communicate with speakers of other languages.

Admission is free and the meetup is completely informal. No booking required.

Rumours have it that the Bluegrass Collective will perform in Sin É on Tuesday and there might even be an open Bluegrass Jam! Admission is free.

The King Kong Club is a weekly music game-show in Whelan’s.

Each week 6-7 bands/solo artists play three songs each. At the end of all the performances a clap-off with the King Kong Club Clap-o-Meter takes place and the winner goes through to a semi-final and it all culminates after six months of competition with The Grand Final, held in front of a panel of celebrity judges.

Check the Facebook Page below for the line-up. Admission is free.

This is a weelly acoustic roots and blues session every Tuesday in Arthur’s Pub.

Admision is free.

Every Tuesday an informal sing along with Ukulele and Toy Musical Instruments takes place in the Stag’s Head. Just bring your instrument and come along. Beginners are welcome. Admission is free and further details (and a big book of songs) are available on the Facebook Page below. The get-together meets in the “snug” in Stag’s Head.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

The Lounge Quintet plays this gig every Tuesday: Jazz Standards, Latin and Bebop. Often guest musicians and singers join them. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

Every Tuesday and Thursday the International Bar invites to a Jazz night in the Lounge.

Groups led by Cote Calmet, Sean Maynard Smith, Dominic Mullan, Paddy Groenland, Georgia Cusack & Alex Mathias are performing regularly with occasional guest players, but there are also other bands from all over.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of EUR 5. The website clearly says that there is no entry fee, but – and that makes a lot of sense – that your donations are very much appreciated (Musicians need to pay for rent and food too!) Be generous after the gig if you liked it, but if someone wants to charge an admission charge, please point out that the “rules” as described on their website are like I have explained.

Every Tuesday, a pub quiz is taking place in the Woolshed.

Admission is free. Max team size is 6 people.

Entry charges at some OPW Heritage sites are waived once a month, on the “Free Wednesday”, the first Wednesday of the month. The Office of Public Works (OPW), who looks after the state owned heritage sites, wants to encourage people to visit the historic sites that it manages and has therefore started this great initiative in 2011.

Most OPW managed sites can already be visited for free (e.g. Farmleigh House, Phoenix Park, National Botanic Gardens, Pearse Museum, etc), but some sites that normally charge a fee will be free every first Wednesday as well. In the (extended) Greater Dublin Area this means you can visit the following sites for free:
+ Dublin Castle, State Apartments
+ The Casino, Marino (currently closed for Winter)
+ Rathfarnham Castle
+ Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at Newgrange
+ Glendalough Visitor Centre in Wicklow

In the past Kilmainham Gaol (the most popular site) was also on that list, but it was removed some months ago and is sorely missed. There is a high risk that the Free Wednesday will be restricted further in coming months. Use it as long as it lasts.

As you can imagine, this event is very popular and therefore it is strongly recommended to arrive early at the venues. Once the day’s tickets are given out, you will not get access anymore.

Did you ever want to give drawing a go? Or maybe you are a budding artist looking for like-minded people to draw with? The Creative Den in Rua Red runs free weekly drawing sessions on Wednesdays at 11:00.

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

From today, the Science Gallery will be open again after their Christmas break.

The exhibition “Design and Violence” (14 Oct – 22 Jan) in the Science Gallery is an exhibition of objects and systems at the intersection of design and violence. Violence in this context has different faces. It is deliberate harm caused to a person or thing, but also an unintended consequence in other scenarios. Design is the intended creation of things, but also the unintended consequence.

It is a very very interesting exhibition! A good bit darker than other Science Gallery exhibitions because every exhibit has some form of threat inherent in it, but definitely an exhibition I recommend. Some exhibits are self-explanatory, but all come with descriptive and explanatory labels. In addition there are the amazing mediators, who explain and help through the exhibition. I was so lucky to get a guided tour of the whole exhibition by lead mediator Ryan and he is absolutely outstanding. Hugely knowledgeable, interested and interesting and extremely friendly and helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask the mediators they are there to help!

Like all Science Gallery exhibitions, “Design and Violence” is suitable for all ages with a particular focus on the age group of 15-25, but due to the topic, I would say that younger children need parental guidance and you could decide to go into less detail about some objects.

From a chair that has to be created by the buyer through bashing a steel cube into shape with a sledgehammer, via all sort of violence that was shown in children’s cartoons “Looney Toons” or pressure sensitive clothing for wheel-chair users to show injury and trauma to an AK-47 rifle and instructions how to torture, the ground floor area sets the scene for a varied way of looking at violence and design. But it gets even more interesting upstairs: A printed gun, a drone survival guide, hacked protest objects, an interesting race and skin colour photo archive, Desert War simulation, a virtual reality installation about the threats refugees need to navigate through and a landmine display….are just some of the exhibits

The Science Gallery has very visitor friendly opening hours of Tue-Fri 12:00-20:00 and Sat+Sun 12:00-18:00.

Admission is free.

Archive at Lunchtime screenings take place Saturdays (Double Bill), Mondays and Wednesdays. The programme is changing weekly now (instead of monthly as in the past). To find out what film(s) will be screened go to www.ifi.ie/whatson/now-showing-coming-soon/ and look for “Archive at Lunchtime” on the right. Admission is free.

Explore Ireland at the time of Celtic Kings, find out more about the mysterious bog bodies and what they may have worn to special ceremonies and make your own leather armlet to take home.

Admission is free and no booking required. Located in the Learning Resource Room, first floor. Suitable for Ages 8+

Jellyfish, butterflies and lobsters are some examples of Irish invertebrates. Come to this tour to find out what they share in common and what other invertebrates live in Ireland.

Admission is free and no booking required but places are limited. Suitable for ages 8+

There will be two tours: At 14:15 and at 15:30.

The “Havana International Language Exchange” is taking place every Wed from 16:30-19:30 in Havana Tapas Bar in George’s Street. There are many Spanish speakers and English-speakers are explicitly invited, but everyone else is certainly very welcome too, to meet for a chat to improve your Spanish or English.

The Roots Band “Brand New Switcheroo” will perform in the Harbour Bar. Admission is free.

The Anseo Comedy Club takes place every Wednesday in Anseo (upstairs).

Admission is free, donations are welcome.

“The Song Room” is another open mic event. It takes place in The Globe in George’s Street at 20:30 every Wednesday.

“The Zodiac Sessions” is a regular open mic event from 20:30 in Bruxelles (between Grafton Street and Westbury Hotel) for unsigned musicians. Admission is free and there is a different line-up every week.

Bad Boy Jake are every Wednesday in the Gypsy Rose Rock & Blues Bar playing their rock, blues and American.

Los Paradiso are playing Rockabilly, Tex Mex, Western Swing, Surf in the Leeson Lounge. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Traditional Irish Music Session in Hedigan’s (The Brian Boru) in Phibsborough from 21:30 every Wednesday. If you play an instrument you are especially welcome (all levels are welcome).

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The Green Door Market is a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

Come to this free tour of the exhibition “Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats” on the first Thursday of each month. The tour introduces William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) – one of the great poets of the twentieth century – and his many interests, including literature, folklore, theatre, politics, the occult and Irish cultural identity.

After the tour, you can listen to a selection of voices speaking some of his best loved poems, including Easter 1916.

Admission is free and booking is not required.

Every Thursday the Little Museum of Dublin waives their admission charges for two guided tours thanks to sponsorship from Guinness. The first tour is at 18:00 and the second tour is at 19:00. Make sure that you are there at least 10 minutes before the start of the tour to get one of the limited places.

The Little Museum of Dublin has a fascinating collection of artefacts from the last 100 years Dublin’s history.

On other days and other times, admission is EUR 7 for adults and admission is by guided tour only.

This is the last opportunity to visit the Little Museum before its 2 weeks closing in January (08-21 January).

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher will run next Thursday. It will be an Alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

Meeting point is at the Spire. The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is required via myfavouritesdublincitywalktour@gmail.com or 085-2725095

An expatriate or expat is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of their citizenship.

And this is a weekly meeting for all Expats in Dublin (new and old!). If you are new to the city, this is an excellent way to meet people.

Admission is free (no booking required!), but you are asked to give the same kind of welcoming to new members as is given to you.

Curated by Irish illustrator Peter Donnelly and festival organiser John Brereton, ‘PIN UPS’ will showcase six contemporary visual artists interpreting 12 David Bowie songs in A1 poster format.

The artists are Annie Mac, Ian Dempsey, Cathal Murray, Tony Clayton Lea, Aine Lawlor, Eamon Carr, Tom Dunne, Dan Hegarty, Roisin Dwyer, Scott Williams and former Spiders From Mars drummer Woody Woodmansey.

The exhibition will be launched at 19:00 on 05 Jan and will then run until 12 January.

Admission is free.

And this is the third (!) Board Gaming night in Dublin! They are taking over! ;-)

It is a weekly event and on Thursday the focus is on Introductory Board Games, so if you haven’t for a while (or ever) played Board Games, this is for you.

Admission is free.

The Dublin Jam Session is an open Jam with full back line. It is open to all levels of musicians and singers and all genres of music and the only rule is that you must jam with others (not all your own band).

It takes place every Thursday and admission is free.

Andreas Schulz is inviting to the “Schulz’s Savage Singing Session Sensation”, a singing session with lots of singers and musicians in the Cobblestone.

Admission is free, but you are asked for a donation for the Capuchin Day Centre.

Gavin Glass will play Americana in Bray.

Admission is free.

Every Thursday a Singer Songwriter Night will take place in Mother Reilly’s in Rathmines. This is YOUR chance to show everyone what you can do, alternatively you can just listen to the talented Singer/Songwriters. Admission is free.

A Fun Pub Quiz takes place in Brady’s in Terenure on Thurs. The quiz will be on every Thursday night in the Lounge at Brady’s. Keith McLoughlin is the Quiz Master.

There will be six rounds of the quiz with picture questions, audio questions and general knowledge questions. Admission to the quiz is free and therr will be free drink vouchers for the winning and runner up teams. (No phones to get answers allowed.)

Every Tuesday and Thursday the International Bar invites to a Jazz night in the Lounge.

Groups led by Cote Calmet, Sean Maynard Smith, Dominic Mullan, Paddy Groenland, Georgia Cusack & Alex Mathias are performing regularly with occasional guest players, but there are also other bands from all over.

Admission is free, with a suggested donation of EUR 5. The website clearly says that there is no entry fee, but – and that makes a lot of sense – that your donations are very much appreciated (Musicians need to pay for rent and food too!) Be generous after the gig if you liked it, but if someone wants to charge an admission charge, please point out that the “rules” as described on their website are like I have explained.

Every Thursday “Left Right & Centre” play a mix of blues & soul with a bit of rock&roll.

Admission is free.

A weekly Trad Music Night is taking place in McLoughlin’s in Dun Laoghaire. It is an acoustic night and all musicians are welcome. Admission is free.

Every Thursday a free Trad Session takes place in McNeills and often there are high profile Trad musicians performing.

The Woolshed Karaoke is happening every Thursday from 21:30. Anyone can participate! Admission is free.

The second Dublin Bowie Festival takes place from 05-10 January (10 Jan is the first anniversary of David Bowies death.)

There will be live music, film screenings, discussions, literary event, fine art, pub quiz and many other events. The majority events is not free, but the daily Festival Club in the Mercantile from 05-10 Jan is one of the free events.

The 6th of January is the main Christmas Day in the Russian Orthodox Church and in Spain, where the three wise men (Reyes Magos) bring the presents. In Ireland it is the feast of Epiphany. the day of the three wise kings, and also Little Christmas and Women’s Christmas or “Nollaig na mBan”.

And Women’s Christmas (Nollaig na mBan) is the most intriguing of them all: The tradition is (or was) that on that day the women who have worked all over Christmas will get a day off and the men will look after the household duties for one day. The women go out and celebrate on that day with parties.

Interesting tradition! I am not sure if a one day party makes up for working hard over the whole Christmas period, but I guess one day off is better than no day off. Do you know if that is still properly observed anywhere?

Every Friday the chq will run a market in the building with a whole range of stalls. There will be food and arts & craft. Some stalls are there every week, others change regularly.

Admission is free.

The Moving Crib of the St. Martin Apostolate is a whole basement full of handcrafted figures in front of painted backgrounds of nativity related scenes. There are 14 scenes, beginning with Adam and Eve and finishing with Christmas. Nearly all figures are moving and this historic crib, which was created in 1956, still fascinates children and even adults.

I was there two years ago and it is indeed fascinating. It won’t blow you away, but your kids could be a lot more impressed than you!! ;-)

Admission is free, but for the upkeep of the crib, a donation of EUR 1.50 per person is suggested.

The opening times are 21 Nov-08 January: Mon-Fri 14:00-18:00 and Sat+Sun: 11:30-18:00. (Closed on 24+25+26 Dec and 01 Jan)

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The Green Door Market is a new indoor food/Farmer’s Market that takes place just a few doors down from the Dublin Food Co-op at Newmarket in Dublin 8. Admission is free.

Opening hours are Thu-Fri 12:00-19:00 and Sat 09:30-16:00.

Maeve Brennan (1917 –1993) was an Irish short story writer and journalist. She moved to the United States in 1934 and established herself as an important figure in both Irish diaspora writing and in Irish writing itself.

Author and retired UCD Professor Angela Bourke wrote the biography “Maeve Brennan: Homesick at the New Yorker” in 2004. She will talk about Maeve Brennan at this event.

Admission is free, but booking is required via 01 8734333 or centrallibrary@dublincity.ie

Get a cup of tea, gather the last bit of energy and then bring this work week over the line! And for next week, get some special teas via the ad below and help the Dublin Event Guide while you are doing that. ;-)

Click on the picture below or use this link and if you order any teas that way, you help the Dublin Event Guide because Twinings will pay a small reward if you order after clicking on the picture or link above.

Orders over GBP 35 are free in the UK and if you use Parcelmotel’s Belfast to Dublin service, you can get it delivered for just EUR 3.95 of postage.

Discover how Medieval lords, Viking children and Stone Age farmers passed the time and celebrated feasts in the winter.

Admission is free and no booking required. Meet at Reception. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

Suitable for families with kids Age 7+

Cornucopia Café & Restaurant host live music three evenings a week (Thurs, Fri and Sat). The restaurant is a Wholefood & Vegetarian Restaurant and is open until 22:15.
+ Every second Thursday N.C Lawlor, a songwriter, session player and troubadour plays a mix of country, bluegrass & blues from 19:30-21:30.
+ Every Friday (19:30-21:30) Junshi Murakami plays Irish Harp.
+ Every Saturday (19:30-21:30) Nollaig Mann plays a collection of popular and jazz classics.

The Stillorgan Orchard has live music every Friday and Saturday. Many of the performers are established and very good bands. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below. Admission is always free.

“Ska ‘n’ Reggae” is the theme in the Dive Bar (downstairs in Turks Head) every Friday. The Bionic Rats play live. followed by DJs until late. Admission is free.

The PJ Salmon Band will play classic Blues and Rock in the Patriot’s Inn.

Admission is free.

The second Dublin Bowie Festival takes place from 05-10 January (10 Jan is the first anniversary of David Bowies death.)

There will be live music, film screenings, discussions, literary event, fine art, pub quiz and many other events. The majority events is not free, but the daily Festival Club in the Mercantile from 05-10 Jan is one of the free events.