A weekly car boot sale, one of less than a handful that is still reliably taking place, has up to 200 cars/sellers. The stadium is just a few minutes walk from the Red LUAS line stop and numerous bus stops. For traders the Car Boot Sale opens at 06:30 for buyers from 08:00. If you are interested in selling, check the details and register on their website.

The weekly Honest2goodness food market in Glasnevin has fresh meat, vegetables, fish, baked goods, and wines. It is open from 09:30-16:00. It is behind Lidl in the Industrial Estate just after the Glasnevin Cemetary coming from the City Centre.

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
+ Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin 6

The SuperNatural Food Market is taking place every Saturday from 09:30-15:30 in St. Andrews Resource Centre in Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

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.

On Saturday the East Wall History Group will host the second Sarah Lundberg Summer School in conjunction with the Alternative Visions Oral History Group and Radioactive International.

The topic this year is

CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF REBEL RADIO.

During the Easter Rising a message was broadcast from O’Connell Street to the world announcing the establishment of an Irish Republic. And this was only the beginning. Be it Pirate Radio, Free Radio or Community Radio Ireland has a fascinating history of citizens taking to the airwaves.

This event will look at the history of many of these achievements in broadcasting, you will hear the story of the local Irish stations from the 1970s and 80s onwards, the key role Ireland played in the famous off-shore pirate radio ships, and examining the motives behind some of the projects – be they political, a form of self-expression or simply the desire to play great music! The speakers will also examine why broadcasting regulations are so restrictive and discuss how new technologies are providing fresh opportunities for the determined enthusiast.

Admission is free, but “sales” of the free tickets via the Eventbrite platform has ended, so the only way is to go to the venue directly and to see if there is still space. (A light lunch will be provided, but might not be available for you if you have not pre-booked.)

Malahide is celebrating their Malahide Has it! Festival 2017 this weekend. Malahide might have it, but unfortunately the organiser don’t! The website hasn’t been updated since 2017 and the Facebook page below has an unreadable picture of the programme on it. So how people are meant to find out what is happening is not clear.

But it is a busy festival with lots of things happening, so it would be a pity to ignore it. To give you the best possible chance to see what is happening, I have uploaded the festival schedule to this location. If you check the picture at that location, you should be able to zoom in properly and at least see a bit more. The quality is not great, because I only had the low Facebook picture quality but the “zoomability” is much better.

But let me tell you a little about the festival itself:
On Saturday and Sunday there will be a Food Stalls from 10:00-17:00, Children’s Entertainment with Carnival Games/Free Face painting/Free Ballon Modelling/Magic Shows from 11:00-16:00 on the Green.
In New Street Live Music (15:00-22:00), Kids Basketball and Carnival Games (11:00-17:00) and RNLI demo (11:00-17:00) will take place.
And the line-up on the stage will be on
+ Saturday: Paul Harrington, Readhead, Eoin Thomas, The Cover Band, Market Street and more
+ Sunday: Loose Change, Low Light Gathering, Phil Aherne, That’s Simple, Rampart’s Choir from BBC Pitch Battle and more
A Fun Fair will be on Malahide Beach from 11:00-22:00.

Admission to all events is free.

The County Council Market (CoCo) in Marlay Park is taking place every Saturday and Sunday. You will find a wide range of products. There will be food to eat there and food to cook at home but also crafts and arts and books and lots more.

The Temple Bar Markets (Food Market on Meeting House Square, Book Market on Temple Bar Square and the Designer Mart near Cow’s Lane) are taking place every Saturday from 10:00-16:30.

Dublin City Hall has a museum/exhibition in the basement, called “The Story of the Capital”, it is an exhibition that you should definitely check out at some stage.

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2017.

Opening hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:15.

Come to this outdoor “Yoga under the Tree” class for a good cause. It is a 1 hour Yoga class on the Clontarf Promenade (opposite Oulton Road) to help the Make A Wish foundation. You just need a mat and some water. Suitable for all levels.

Admission is free, but donations are requested.

The Drumcondra Village Market is re-launching this weekend as the “Art, Bites, Crafts Drumcondra Market”. And as you guessed it, it is an arts and crafts fair in the centre of Drumcondra. There will also be some food and live music with “The Jaffa Cakes”.

The market is open on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30-15:30.

Admission is free.

The exhibition “The Beautiful Beasts” will feature a weird and wonderful collection of animal sculptures. Along with a brand new limestone seal, you will find a flying horse, a tortoise with a secret story and a toucan in disguise.

Created by leading Irish and international artists from materials ranging from bronze, woods, ceramics, steel and stone. You can learn about the techniques used to create the artworks and feel samples of the materials used.

Admission is free. The exhibition is open on from Wednesday to Sunday every week and is suitable for Age 4+

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.

This year’s Dublin Ratha Yatra, the Hare Krishna Festival of Chariots will take place on Saturday. It will begin at 11:30 at Merrion Square South and there will be a parade to St. Stephen’s Green.

The event schedule is as follows:
up to 11:00 Gathering at take-off point in Merrion Square
11:00 Opening ceremony with Lord Mayor and religious/cultural representatives
12:00 Parade leaves from Merrion Square
14:00 Festival begins at St. Stephen’s Green bandstand
17:00 Close

There will be music, guest speakers, dance and songs, exhibits and a free vegetarian feast

Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

The Foothills Cafe in Sandyford is inviting to a Summer Party with Live Music and Children’s Entertainment.

Admission is free.

An Intercultural Tour in Mandarin Language with Community Ambassador Vicky Wang will take place in the Chester Beatty Library.

Admission is free.

The Terenure Bushy Park Market is taking place every weekk. The market has more than 30 stalls, offering a whole variety of foods and crafts.

Admission is free.

As part of the Festival of Archaeology, the National Museum invites you to discover how the Vikings built their homes, then create your own Viking house and help build up the Viking town of Dublin.

Admission is free. Thi is is a Drop-in activity in the Kildare Room. Suitable for Ages 8+.

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.

Some Puppet Show events take place on Saturday and Sunday:

“Children’s Puppet Playtime” is your chance to perform your own puppet show at Famleigh House. Admission is free and access is on first come, first served basis. The time slos are 12:00-13:00 and 14:30-15:30.

At 13:30 and at 16:00 a Puppet Show with Julie Rose McCormick will take place. Admission is free for that as well and access is also on first come, first served basis.

On Sunday there is also Music on the Bandstand with the Stedfast Brass Band.

Science Gallery is hosting the next Eurocraic event, a meeting for everybody interested in modular focussed synths. Come to the gallery to join manufacturers and users for an an afternoon focused on synthesisers, electronics and electronic music. Find out more details on the Facebook page below.

Admission is free.

The weekly Ha’penny Flea Market is an indoor market in the Grand Social Pub, which offers vintage Men and Women’s clothing, contemporary crafts, books, DVDs, vinyl records, vintage and handmade jewellery, vintage hair styles, art, photography and much more. Grand Social’s Bar and Gourmet Coffee options are available.

A Ceremonial Military Guard will parade at the site of the “National Memorial to Members of the Defence Forces who died in the Service of the State”, at Merrion Square during July and August. Ceremonies will take place at the pyramid at Merrion Square opposite the back entrance to the Dail, every Saturday from 15 July to 19 August 2015.

Units from different sections of the Defence Forces (Army, Air Corps and Naval Service) will participate in this Military Guard Ceremony to remember their comrades. Every week different units will be involved and the details of the ceremony and the participating units are described on the website below.

Qigong is a traditional Chinese form of meditation coordinating slow flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm state of mind.

Come to this gentle Qigong practice outdoors on the Roof Top Garden of the Library (weather permitting) or indoors with a view of the roof garden. Suitable for all ages.

Admission is free and no booking required, but numbers are limited.

The exhibition “SOUND CHECK” (09 June – 24 September) in the Science Gallery is looking the influence sound has on our life. THe exhibition looks at lots of interesting ways to create sound.

It is highly interactive exhibition with lots of oppoertunities to create sound/make noise. Some of the main exhibits are a big sound pinball table, a synthesiser on a bike, musical swings, a room full of Moog Synthesiser equipment, a Uranium controlled Xylophone and there are fice “Sonic Bikes” that you cyn pre-book and loan out for a 1 hour guided tour in Dublin.

The exhibition is suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part and nobody will be bored.

Use the help of the amazing mediators, who can explain everything you see, especially if you don’t want to read all the explanations that are next to every exhibit.

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.

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

As part of the current “Sound Check” exhibition in the Science Gallery you can rent out a bike to experience Dublin in a completely different way:

Ya slip ta bang is an interactive composition mapped over the streets of Dublin that will unfold for you as you ride ‘sonic bikes’ along specific routes of the city. Accompanied by electronic music, the composition tells the story of recovering he roin addict Lucy Dolan as she returns to the city, revisiting important places in her life.

The sonic bike is a bicycle with frame-mounted speakers that plays different sounds and music dependent on where the cyclist goes and how fast they ride, via a mounted location-sensitive system.

The bikes can be rented for free for up to 1 hour on Thursday, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday between 12:30 and 16:00. The rules and conditions are on the website below and that is also where you book the bikes.

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.

Atmosphere is a Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown event featuring all things aeronautical at Newtownsmith Green in Dun Laoghaire. It will be all about flying with ballons, kites and flight, a trapeze show with aerial performers, hand balance, juggling, acrobatics and clowning.

The Kite Zone will feature stunt kites, large static kites and tournaments. Master kite flyers will demonstrate their skills and creations and will give workshops on kite aerodynamics and design. There will be kite flying competitions and a chance to make your own kite in the “make and do” area. Don’t forget to bring your own kite!

A Balloon Sculptor will produce a specially commissioned centre piece for the day and balloon modellers will show off their skills creating models of Planes, Animals, Cartoon Characters and lots more.

The Fun Zone will feature Bubbleman and humungous bubbles, climbing walls, volleyball skills, seaside games and strolling characters.

The Bernard Shaw Flea Market is a weekly market (every Saturday) with approx 16 stalls, music, pizzas from the Big Blue Bus and the Bernard Shaw Garden Bar. Expect vintage clothes, shoes, jewellery, art, records, bric-a-brac and more and DJs will provide the entertainment.

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 free guided tour will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The tour starts at 14:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00 and one on Sundays at 15:00

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.

A weekly tour of the National War Memorial Gardens will take every Saturday from March until the end of October.

Admission is free. “Meet inside the gates” it says here.

innocent drinks will be in Merrion Square this weekend with a giant adult ball pool (coloured plastic balls for you to jump in). The event is called The innocent Green and it will run on Saturday 29 July and Sunday 30 July and is reserved for “big kids” only (above 16 years of age).

You can also play a game of rounders, tip the can and fruit pong while waiting for your turn to jump into the big ball pool. And there will be innocent smoothies and Coconut Waters available as well.

Sounds like lots of fun, BUT there is a problem! While admission is free, it was necessary to book tickets to get access and all tickets are gone. innocent however have offered to let walk ups in, but only if it is not too busy. So, you might be lucky, but there is no guarantee.

If you want to see what the whole thing is about, watch Darragh Doyle, a good friend, great Dublin Event Guide supporter and the man who always knows the inside track about ALL events in Dublin, go for his dive: www.instagram.com/p/BXGhvPQggoo/ :-)

The Collective is an evening of Music, Poetry & More in the Ranelagh Arts Centre. Find the line-up on the Facebook Page below.

Admission is free. This is a BYOB event.

Les Freres Zeugma is a an atypical 6-piece rock band from Paris, that plays rock ‘n’ roll with traces of funk, swing, klezmer, afrobeat and even a bit of psychedelism.

Admission is free.

The band Bodies will be in Sin É for a gig and their single launch.

Admission is free.

The Galway Street Club Band will play Blues/Rock/Reggae/Folk/Trad/Ska at this gig in Bray.

Admission is free.

The Beatles Tribute Band “Let It Be-Atles” will be in the Palmerstown House for a gig.

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.

Dublin-based 7 piece “The Crayon Set” specialises in upbeat, alternative pop and they are performing a gig in Whelan’s on Saturday.

The gig will start at midnight. Admission is free before 22:30 or if you sign up for the guest list via the link below.

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.

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.

The Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park is unusually neglected and at the same time unusually rich in history. Many have seen it as a barred off concrete fortress in a corner of Phoenix Park and even more don’t even know or have forgotten that it exists. The old Phoenix House, the home of the British Viceroy, was on the site where the fort was built from the early 17th century and then in 1734 the Fort was built and extended in 1801.

In 1916 the Fort was raided by the rebels who expected to find a lot of explosives there, but found the Fort nearly empty. In 1939 the IRA raided the Fort and stole more than a million rounds of ammunition, but most of it was recovered over the following weeks.

Since 1988, the Irish Army doesn’t use the Fort anymore and gave it back to the Office of Public Works (OPW), but not much good has happened to the Fort in the last 28 years (!!) and there were numerous speculations about the reasons for that.

Finally since last year, guided tours were provided and were meant to run for three months until end of October 2016. But the interest was so great that the OPW decided to continue the tours with a reduced schedule over the winter. And since 02 April there will be tours again every Friday and Sunday at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 + 15:00 and only 20 places are available on each tour.

Tickets are available at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on a first come, first served basis and can not be pre-booked. A shuttle bus will bring the ticket holders to the Fort.

Malahide is celebrating their Malahide Has it! Festival 2017 this weekend. Malahide might have it, but unfortunately the organiser don’t! The website hasn’t been updated since 2017 and the Facebook page below has an unreadable picture of the programme on it. So how people are meant to find out what is happening is not clear.

But it is a busy festival with lots of things happening, so it would be a pity to ignore it. To give you the best possible chance to see what is happening, I have uploaded the festival schedule to this location. If you check the picture at that location, you should be able to zoom in properly and at least see a bit more. The quality is not great, because I only had the low Facebook picture quality but the “zoomability” is much better.

But let me tell you a little about the festival itself:
On Saturday and Sunday there will be a Food Stalls from 10:00-17:00, Children’s Entertainment with Carnival Games/Free Face painting/Free Ballon Modelling/Magic Shows from 11:00-16:00 on the Green.
In New Street Live Music (15:00-22:00), Kids Basketball and Carnival Games (11:00-17:00) and RNLI demo (11:00-17:00) will take place.
And the line-up on the stage will be on
+ Saturday: Paul Harrington, Readhead, Eoin Thomas, The Cover Band, Market Street and more
+ Sunday: Loose Change, Low Light Gathering, Phil Aherne, That’s Simple, Rampart’s Choir from BBC Pitch Battle and more
A Fun Fair will be on Malahide Beach from 11:00-22:00.

Admission to all events is free.

The County Council Market (CoCo) in Marlay Park is taking place every Saturday and Sunday. You will find a wide range of products. There will be food to eat there and food to cook at home but also crafts and arts and books and lots more.

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 exhibition “The Beautiful Beasts” will feature a weird and wonderful collection of animal sculptures. Along with a brand new limestone seal, you will find a flying horse, a tortoise with a secret story and a toucan in disguise.

Created by leading Irish and international artists from materials ranging from bronze, woods, ceramics, steel and stone. You can learn about the techniques used to create the artworks and feel samples of the materials used.

Admission is free. The exhibition is open on from Wednesday to Sunday every week and is suitable for Age 4+

Every Sunday (with a few exceptions) an art workshop takes place for children from 6-11 years of age. Admission is free and children must be accompanied by an adult.

The themes for the workshop are:

30 July Farmer Ann

The full list can be found here phoenixpark.ie/media/phoenix-park-programme-of-events-2017.pdf

The next Dublin Flea Market is taking place in the Food Co-op, 12 Newmarket, just off Cork Street, Dublin 8 on Sunday from 11:00-17:00. The flea market takes place every last Sunday of the month and admission is free. For more information or if you want to sell your own stuff, check out www.dublinflea.ie

“A bizarre bazaar of vintage clothing, bric-a-brac and what nots, old and new. Stalls include hand-made goods, art, jewelry, furniture, records and lots more unwanted items that may just be your treasure!”

Admission is free.

A weekly market with lots of food, but also many other products (art & crafts, books, etc) takes place every Sunday in the beautiful People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire. It is a very popular market and with around 50 vendors also one of the bigger markets.

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 is running a series of free themed family drop-in workshops from 11:30-13:30 every Sunday.

Inspired by the collection and the exhibitions in the National Gallery, these workshops are suitable for all ages from approx. 18 months to age 8. You can choose to stay for as long or as short a time as works for you.

The space will be divided by age and ability, and each child will be encouraged by Artist and NGI Education Assistant Caomhán Mac Con Iomaire and the week’s guest artist to create their own work on the week’s theme.

Admission is free and no booking required. Numbers are limited to 40 people at any one time but you can drop in and out whenever it suits you and as long as there is still space. Children have to be supervised at all times. The event takes place in the Atrium.

This week’s theme is: Enlightening Art

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 National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

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.

Some Puppet Show events take place on Saturday and Sunday:

“Children’s Puppet Playtime” is your chance to perform your own puppet show at Famleigh House. Admission is free and access is on first come, first served basis. The time slos are 12:00-13:00 and 14:30-15:30.

At 13:30 and at 16:00 a Puppet Show with Julie Rose McCormick will take place. Admission is free for that as well and access is also on first come, first served basis.

On Sunday there is also Music on the Bandstand with the Stedfast Brass Band.

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.

The exhibition “SOUND CHECK” (09 June – 24 September) in the Science Gallery is looking the influence sound has on our life. THe exhibition looks at lots of interesting ways to create sound.

It is highly interactive exhibition with lots of oppoertunities to create sound/make noise. Some of the main exhibits are a big sound pinball table, a synthesiser on a bike, musical swings, a room full of Moog Synthesiser equipment, a Uranium controlled Xylophone and there are fice “Sonic Bikes” that you cyn pre-book and loan out for a 1 hour guided tour in Dublin.

The exhibition is suitable for ALL ages, even younger children will be able to take part and nobody will be bored.

Use the help of the amazing mediators, who can explain everything you see, especially if you don’t want to read all the explanations that are next to every exhibit.

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.

As part of the current “Sound Check” exhibition in the Science Gallery you can rent out a bike to experience Dublin in a completely different way:

Ya slip ta bang is an interactive composition mapped over the streets of Dublin that will unfold for you as you ride ‘sonic bikes’ along specific routes of the city. Accompanied by electronic music, the composition tells the story of recovering he roin addict Lucy Dolan as she returns to the city, revisiting important places in her life.

The sonic bike is a bicycle with frame-mounted speakers that plays different sounds and music dependent on where the cyclist goes and how fast they ride, via a mounted location-sensitive system.

The bikes can be rented for free for up to 1 hour on Thursday, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday between 12:30 and 16:00. The rules and conditions are on the website below and that is also where you book the bikes.

The kids from Al Helal FC in the Gaza strip are returning to Ireland and coming to play Ballybrack FC this Sunday. The Ballybrack Boys Football Club is looking for your support and solidarity and they have organised a DJ, bouncy castle, food and football.

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 cemetery at Arbour Hill is the last resting place of 14 of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. Among those buried there are Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly and Thomas Clarke. This tour every Sunday will focus on the context of the Rising and explore in detail the wording of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

No booking necessary. The meeting point is inside the cemetery gates.

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.

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 Japanese film “Sweet Bean” (2015, 113min, PG) will be screened in Japanese with English subtitles and admission is free.

On 16 Sept is the International Zouk Day and on that day a dance Flashmob is planned to happen in Dublin and for the next seven weeks, starting this Sunday, a Dance Practice will take place at the Pavilion/Summerhouse in St. Stephen’s Green (next to the lake).

It is a 2 hour session and you will learn to dance this Brazilian partner dance that was born in Rio de Janeiro less than 30 years ago (early 1990s). You don’t need to have and dance experience and you also don’t need to have a partner to participate.

The Facebook Event Page unfortunately doesn’t mention if there is a cost, so until I hear otherwise, I will assume that admission is free. Let’s hope I am right!

Every Sunday a free guided tour will take place in the Chester Betty Library. The tour starts at 15:00.

In addition there is another free tour every Wednesday at 13:00 and one on Saturdays at 14:00

This is a public tour of the Eileen Gray gallery, exploring one of the most influential designers and architects of the 20th century.

Admission is free and places will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis 15 minutes before the tour starts. Suitable for adults and children aged 7+.

“Hotter than July” is a family-friendly World Music Festival om Smithfield Plaza. The festival is presented by the Improvised Music Company and Dublin City Council, in collaboration with the Big Bang Festival of Rhythm and the line up will be

+ Kakatsitsi Master Drummers from Ghana
+ La Chiva Gantiva, playing punky Afro-Colombian sounds
+ Irish-Arabic Raed Said: a percussionist from the Jerusalem and Irish traditional musicians
+ Palestinian Ruba Shamshoum, playing harmonious jazz melodies
+ Niwel Tsumbu Electric Quartet around the Congolese guitarist/singer Niwel Tsumbu
+ Manden Express from Dublin with West African music from Mali and Afrobeat

+ Dance Performance “Welcoming The Stranger” by Catherine Young combined with traditional West African dance, Palestinian Dabke dance and Traditional Irish dance and accompanies by a collective of Irish musicians, Big Bang Dance Project drummers, and Raed Said.

There will also be interactive Drumming Workshops for children (at 15:30+16:30+17:30), Japanese drum performances by Taiseiyo Taiko Drummers, Mexican mariachi classics by Mariachi San Patricio and traditional Chinese Lion Dances.

Admission is free and everybody is welcome.

And here is the timetable in short form (I had to type instead of copy the whole thing, so I did take some shortcuts ;-) ):
15:00 Middle-Easter jazz with Ruba Shamshoum
15:50 Chinese Lion Dance / Mexican Mariachi / Japanese Drumming
16:30 Irish-Arabic fusion with Raed Said and Irish Trad musicians
17:00 Dance Project “Welcome the Stranger”
17:30 Conglese groove from Niwel Tsumbu Electric Quartet
18:20 Kakatsitsi Drummers from Ghana
19:00 Manden Express with afrobeat from Mali
20:00 Colobian carnival-punk with La Chiva Gantiva
21:00 Close

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.

innocent drinks will be in Merrion Square this weekend with a giant adult ball pool (coloured plastic balls for you to jump in). The event is called The innocent Green and it will run on Saturday 29 July and Sunday 30 July and is reserved for “big kids” only (above 16 years of age).

You can also play a game of rounders, tip the can and fruit pong while waiting for your turn to jump into the big ball pool. And there will be innocent smoothies and Coconut Waters available as well.

Sounds like lots of fun, BUT there is a problem! While admission is free, it was necessary to book tickets to get access and all tickets are gone. innocent however have offered to let walk ups in, but only if it is not too busy. So, you might be lucky, but there is no guarantee.

If you want to see what the whole thing is about, watch Darragh Doyle, a good friend, great Dublin Event Guide supporter and the man who always knows the inside track about ALL events in Dublin, go for his dive: www.instagram.com/p/BXGhvPQggoo/ :-)

The Sunday Melt Sessions in the Mezz is a whole afternoon of bands, acoustic acts, spoken word, DJs and more. The line up is available via the FB Event Page below.

Admission is free.

Travel around European traditional dancing culture without a ticket at the weekly Bal Folk Dance Sessions.

And if you don’t know how to dance, don’t worry! Workshops are provided and admission is free, donations are appreciated.

The “outdoor” version of the weekly dance continues this week in Merrion Square in the area on the side of the National Gallery.

Blues Got Soul, a four-piece blues band from Dublin is performing the music of the founding fathers of blues and blues masters in the International Bar every Sunday. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

The New Breadwinners are a 3-piece Bluegrass band and they are playing every Sunday in the Leeson Longe.

Admission is free, donations are appreciated.

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

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).

“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 Crayon Set will play an Indie / Alt Pop gig in Bray.

Admission is free.

Soul Foolishness are playing Funk, Hip Hop and Soul at this gig. At 23:30 a GoFUNKyourself DJ will take over.

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.

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.

‘Choose, Catch, Snap! Get a Glimpse, a Glance, a Flash! Of directions you may wish your life to take! And discover decisions you may desire to make!’

Emily Gallagher will run a ‘just for fun’ photo trail weekly, involving participants following instructions for hunting for various specific snaps around the city centre, after which interpretations of the symbolic significance to the snaps will be shared!

Admission is free, but donations are welcome and booking is required via chooseyourowntracks@gmail.com or 085-2725095. Meeting Point is the Meeting House Square.

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

The weekly Stand-up Comeday gig in the Bowery is run by David Hynes and Danny O’Connor. Guests are Julie Jay, Mustafa Saed, Terry Oneil, David Mallaghan.

Admission is free.

This is a weekly gig with authentic old-time fiddle tunes and Appalachian music.

Admission is 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).

Great news the great duo of Donal Kirk and Anto Drennan have found a new home. Originally they played a weekly gig in JJ Smyth’s until it closed and now they will perform in the Leeson Lounge and the same day as before.

They will play 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.

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).

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

That’s It Recordings is an open mic every Monday at Sin E. Just turn up and play. Sign up before 22:00 to ensure you get a slot. Bring a USB stick along and you will get a recording of your music to take home.

Admission is free.

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.

This is a short and informal talk in front of Guido Reni’s The Suicide of Cleopatra, with Aoife Brady.

Admission is free.

“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

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

Eason’s are inviting to an evening with E. Lockhart, Jennifer Smith & Carlie Sorosiak in Eason O’Connell Street. There will be chat, Q&A and a book signing.

Admission is free.

The Trad Session “Call the Dancers” will take place and no other than well known musicians Ronan Ó Snodaigh, Eoin Dillon & friends will perform.

Admission is free.

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.

“Coastal Erosion and Pollution” is the topic at the next meeting and Karen Dubsky (Co-founder of Coastwatch Europe and marine ecologist in TCD) will be talking about this and the many challenges and pressures facing our coastline.
Karen co-designed the Blue Flag for Beaches award programme and co-founded the Irish Clean Air Group, which successfully lobbied for the introduction of smokeless fuel in Ireland.

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.

Camden Comedy is a weekly comedy night on a Tuesday that I only found recently.

Every Tuesday they have a whole range of comedians and admission is free.

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.

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 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.

The Trad Stage is a weekly Open Mic event in the Tivoli Backstage venue. Musicians are invited to perform live in front of an interested audience. Performances are primarily of Irish Traditional Music and Folk Singing, however it is possible to also see performances of traditional music from all over the world as well as performances of original compositions from local and international musicians.

Admission is free.

“All Aboard! An open mic night on a Pirate Ship.” seems to be the new name of the Bowery’s Open Mic Tuesday.

Each week there will be an array of music, comedy, spoken word and all things in between.

Admission is free.

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.

For years, this event was one of the most popular monthly events with a HUGE amount of people taking part. But since last month, it was more or less terminated for all of us in Dublin.

The Free Wednesday (currently) still continues outside of Dublin, but the interesting heritage sites in Dublin have been removed from the list. “Free Wednesday” is the first Wednesday every month when entry charges at some state-owned heritage sites are waived.

The sites are all owned by the state and managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW). Many 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.

Regrettably Kilmainham Gaol and Dublin Castle were removed from this great initiative and The Casino in Marino is still closed for an indefinite period of time, so the only site in Dublin that is still taking part (for another bit!?) is Rathfarnham Castle.

Outside but near to Dublin, you can visit
+ Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at Newgrange
+ Glendalough Visitor Centre in Wicklow
free of charge. The full list of sites in Ireland is here.

However, 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.

The yearly RDS Craft Awards showcase and reward excellence in Irish craft and it is an open platform for Irish craftspeople to have their work assessed by an independent judging panel of Irish and international craft experts. Each year, the winning and commended entries are showcased at the RDS Craft Awards Exhibition during the Dublin Horse Show and prize winners are exhibited again at the National Crafts & Design Fair in the RDS in December.

But to see the exhibition during the Horse Show you need a ticket for the Horse Show and to let everybody else see the great craft, the exhibition will be open for free for three days BEFORE the Horse Show starts.

From 02-04 August admission is free.

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 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.

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!

Come to the museum to learn about how people in Stone Age Ireland caught their dinner and make your own paper fish to take home.

Admission to this Drop-in activity is free. It will take place in the Kildare Room. Suitable for Ages 8+.

The Temple Bar “Night” Market is more an afternoon and evening market (14:00-20:00) and it takes place every Wednesday until September.

You can buy Arts & Crafts at this market.

In previous years the missing food and drink stalls (probably to protect the pubs and restaurants in Temple Bar) was mentioned by visitors as a critique.

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

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 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 Wednesday and admission is free.

The Dwarf Jar House Trio (Daniel Rorke (sax), Cormac O’Brien (bass) and Matthew Jacobson(drums)) will play a weekly Jazz gig every Wednesday in Dwarf Jar Cafe and they usually have one or more guest musicians or singers supporting them.

Admission is free.

Jesters is a weekly open mic comedy event where a lot of comedians do 5 minutes of material.

Admission is free. If you would like to perform then send a message to the Jesters Facebook Page via the link below.

The Roots Band “Brand New Switcharoo” 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.

The Resident Open Mic is a new weekly open mic on Wednesdays with a bit of a difference: Each week a different established artist will go back to their roots by not just playing at the open mic but by hosting it. This gives the artists a chance to try out new songs, play some of their classics and most importantly it gives a chance for new songwriters to play their music in front of some of their favorite songwriters.

Admission is free.

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 Harleys are a popular coverband and they will be in the Mezz every Wednesday at midnight.

Admission is free.

The yearly RDS Craft Awards showcase and reward excellence in Irish craft and it is an open platform for Irish craftspeople to have their work assessed by an independent judging panel of Irish and international craft experts. Each year, the winning and commended entries are showcased at the RDS Craft Awards Exhibition during the Dublin Horse Show and prize winners are exhibited again at the National Crafts & Design Fair in the RDS in December.

But to see the exhibition during the Horse Show you need a ticket for the Horse Show and to let everybody else see the great craft, the exhibition will be open for free for three days BEFORE the Horse Show starts.

From 02-04 August admission is free.

The yearly RDS Craft Awards showcase and reward excellence in Irish craft and it is an open platform for Irish craftspeople to have their work assessed by an independent judging panel of Irish and international craft experts. Each year, the winning and commended entries are showcased at the RDS Craft Awards Exhibition during the Dublin Horse Show and prize winners are exhibited again at the National Crafts & Design Fair in the RDS in December.

But to see the exhibition during the Horse Show you need a ticket for the Horse Show and to let everybody else see the great craft, the exhibition will be open for free for three days BEFORE the Horse Show starts.

From 02-04 August admission is free.

Drop into the Discovery Zone of the Natural History Museum to find out about the Irish Peatland Conservation Council from the Bog of Allen Nature Centre in Co. Kildare. See up-close some living native species from the bog, such as newts and water boatmen, as they visit Dublin for the day.

Admission is free.

Every Thursday a free tour of Grangegorman Military Cemetery on Blackhorse Avenue takes place. Meet inside the cemetery gates.

Admission is free and everybody is welcome. Ring 01-6770095 for more information.

The Astronomy Show is the title of the show presented by Junior Einstein’s Science Club. The Junior Einstein invite children from 8-12 years of age to join them on a virtual trip through space – everything from astronaut training to rocket launching to protecting astronauts on other planets, even greeting aliens and getting back to Earth safely.

Admission is free, but places are limited and booking is required.

Thursday 3 August at 11:00 in Ballymun Library. Book via 01-8421890
Thursday 3 August at 14:30 in Charleville Mall Library. Book via 01-8749619

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.

As part of the current “Sound Check” exhibition in the Science Gallery you can rent out a bike to experience Dublin in a completely different way:

Ya slip ta bang is an interactive composition mapped over the streets of Dublin that will unfold for you as you ride ‘sonic bikes’ along specific routes of the city. Accompanied by electronic music, the composition tells the story of recovering he roin addict Lucy Dolan as she returns to the city, revisiting important places in her life.

The sonic bike is a bicycle with frame-mounted speakers that plays different sounds and music dependent on where the cyclist goes and how fast they ride, via a mounted location-sensitive system.

The bikes can be rented for free for up to 1 hour on Thursday, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday between 12:30 and 16:00. The rules and conditions are on the website below and that is also where you book the bikes.

August is the month for the yearly “Opera in the Open” at the Amphitheatre behind Dublin City Offices and not far from Christ Church Cathedral. For four Thursdays a lunchtime performance of an opera will take place. This year the performances are:

+ 03 Aug: La Boheme – Giacomo Puccini
+ 10 Aug: Cox and Box – Arthur Sullivan
+ 17 Aug: Rita – Gaetano Donizetti
+ 24 Aug: Gianni Schicchi – Giacomo Puccini

Admission is free. In very bad weather it can happen that the event will get cancelled. In that case notifications should be on www.facebook.com/DublinCityCouncil

The talk “Privately Commissioned – An Examination of Surimono, Books and Paintings by Hokusai” with Dr Ryoko Matsuba (Research Assistant, Late Hokusai Project, SOAS, University of London and the British Museum) will take place.

Admission is free and no booking required.

This is a 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.

The Astronomy Show is the title of the show presented by Junior Einstein’s Science Club. The Junior Einstein invite children from 8-12 years of age to join them on a virtual trip through space – everything from astronaut training to rocket launching to protecting astronauts on other planets, even greeting aliens and getting back to Earth safely.

Admission is free, but places are limited and booking is required.

Thursday 3 August at 11:00 in Ballymun Library. Book via 01-8421890
Thursday 3 August at 14:30 in Charleville Mall Library. Book via 01-8749619

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

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.

“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.

THe Thursday Night Board Gaming event is running for more than 10 years already and it is a weekly event for all Board Game enthusiasts. But even if you are a Board Game newbie, you are welcome. Just come along!

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.

The Luna Boys are in the Mercantile for a gig every Thursday night.

Admission is free.

The Swedish Railroad Orchestra is not an orchestra, but is electronic music live performer Rob Smith. He will perform a gig on Thursday.

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.

Mick Pyro is bringing his friends, all top musicians from other bands for a night of Soul Funk & Blues.

Admission is free.

Pop Punk band Hello Casanova from Armagh and four piece alt rock band Hand Models from Belfast will be in Whelan’s for a gig.

Admission is free.

ArlixMeet is a series of conferences happening all over the world to bring teen entrepreneurs together. The conference in Dublin will allow teens who have businesses or who are interested in business to meet, share and learn. Network and create unique connections, share ideas, dreams and stories of your path in entrepreneurship or what you want to do in the future.

Admission is free, but booking is requried via the link below. The event will be in Room 5-050.

The Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park is unusually neglected and at the same time unusually rich in history. Many have seen it as a barred off concrete fortress in a corner of Phoenix Park and even more don’t even know or have forgotten that it exists. The old Phoenix House, the home of the British Viceroy, was on the site where the fort was built from the early 17th century and then in 1734 the Fort was built and extended in 1801.

In 1916 the Fort was raided by the rebels who expected to find a lot of explosives there, but found the Fort nearly empty. In 1939 the IRA raided the Fort and stole more than a million rounds of ammunition, but most of it was recovered over the following weeks.

Since 1988, the Irish Army doesn’t use the Fort anymore and gave it back to the Office of Public Works (OPW), but not much good has happened to the Fort in the last 28 years (!!) and there were numerous speculations about the reasons for that.

Finally since last year, guided tours were provided and were meant to run for three months until end of October 2016. But the interest was so great that the OPW decided to continue the tours with a reduced schedule over the winter. And since 02 April there will be tours again every Friday and Sunday at 10:00, 12:00, 14:00 + 15:00 and only 20 places are available on each tour.

Tickets are available at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre on a first come, first served basis and can not be pre-booked. A shuttle bus will bring the ticket holders to the Fort.

Dublin City Hall has a museum/exhibition in the basement, called “The Story of the Capital”, it is an exhibition about Dublin’s History and you should definitely check it out at some stage.

To celebrate the Easter Rising Anniversary, admission to that exhibititon was free in 2016, but lucky for us, Dublin City decided to also waive the admission charge for 2017.

Opening hours are Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:15.

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.

As part of the current “Sound Check” exhibition in the Science Gallery you can rent out a bike to experience Dublin in a completely different way:

Ya slip ta bang is an interactive composition mapped over the streets of Dublin that will unfold for you as you ride ‘sonic bikes’ along specific routes of the city. Accompanied by electronic music, the composition tells the story of recovering he roin addict Lucy Dolan as she returns to the city, revisiting important places in her life.

The sonic bike is a bicycle with frame-mounted speakers that plays different sounds and music dependent on where the cyclist goes and how fast they ride, via a mounted location-sensitive system.

The bikes can be rented for free for up to 1 hour on Thursday, Fridays, Saturday and Sunday between 12:30 and 16:00. The rules and conditions are on the website below and that is also where you book the bikes.

This is a short and informal talk in front of Jan Steen’s The Marriage Feast at Cana, with Kate Drinane.

Admission is free.

A walking tour in the garden of Farmleigh House will take place on Friday with Marie Staunton. Meet at the Walled Garden.

Admission is free.

The National Gallery runs lots of free tours during the week and this is a listing of all the tours that are on the schedule for this week:

Sat 29 July: 12:30-13:15 Details
Sat 29 July: 14:30-15:15 Details
Sun 30 July: 11:30-12;15 Details
Sun 30 July: 12:30-13:15 Family Tour
Sun 30 July: 13:30-14:15 Details
Mon 31 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Tue 01 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Wed 02 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details
Thu 03 Aug: 18:30-19:15 Tour for the hard of hearing
Fri 04 Aug: 14:30-15:15 Details

For all tours meet at the Merrion Square entrance reception.

The Howth Jazz & Blues Festival is back on the August Bank Holiday weekend. There will be lots of Jazz & Blues gigs in Howth from Friday until Monday and all gigs are free.

The events for Friday 04 Aug are:
+ Zrazy at 19:00 in Tophouse O’Neills
+ Colette Cassidy & Nigel Clark at 20:30 in The Bloody Stream
+ Clara Rose (solo) at 21:00 in East
+ Susan Tomerlty Blues Band (feat. Pat Farrell) at 21:30 in The Waterside
+ Dermot Byrne’s Dirt Road Blues Band at 22:30 in Wright’s Findlater

More gigs will follow on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and I will list them in next week’s Dublin Event Guide.

“Fossil Free TCD” and the “All Ireland Student Activist Network” are inviting to a pot luck dinner on Friday and everyone who does good work on environmental and social issues is welcome.

Bring a dish and something that makes you happy or that you are passionate about to show to others. There are some suggestions on the Facebook event page but there is no pressure.

Admission is free, but a donation of EUR 5 is suggested to pay for the space.

The Dublin Blues, Roots and Brass Festival is back for the 3rd year on the August Bank Holiday weekend and it will run from Friday until Sunday (unfortuantely not until Bank Holiday Monday). Some of the best and most unique acts from around the country will perform at this festival in Whelan’s on the Upstairs Stage, on the Main Stage and even on a Street Stage.

There will be 35 acts in the line up and for Friday it looks like this:

Main Stage:
20:15 Fever Solstice
21:15 Robocobra Quartet
22:15 Bunoscionn
23:30 Early House
————
Upstairs Stage:
20:30 Those Responsible
21:30 Áine Tyrrell
22:30 RetroFix
————
Street Stage:
19:00 Dublin Bluegrass Collective
21:00 GRAND

Admission to all gigs is free.

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.

This is a solidarity gig for musician, academic and campaigner Robbie Sinnott, who is blind and was recently mugged and assaulted by two criminals in Dublin, who specifically targeted him because he is blind. And it is also a campaigning for Hate Crime legislation to be made part of Irish Law.

A whole range of artists/performers will perform music, poetry and theatre on that evening. The line-up can be found on the Facebook Page below.

Admission is free, but donations are expected.

“Catch A Fire” will play a gig in the Grand Social with music from PeterTosh, Bunny Wailer & Bob Marley.

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.

It is not completely clear if this event is a weekly one or not:

“Gavin Povey and The Fabulous Oke She Moke She Pops” will play New Orleans style Piano Rhythm & Blues, Boogie Woogie and Rock’n’ Roll. Gavin Povey has played piano with Van Morrison, Finbar Wright, Kirsty MacColl, Steve Cropper, Shakin’ Stevens and many more.

Admission is free.

McGowans in Phibsborough run a monthly Singles Night. There will be music, games and ice breakers.

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

The Doors Tribute Band “The Roadhouse Doors” will be in Drumcondra for a gig on Friday.

Admission is free.

The great 6-piece Ska band “The Bionic Rats” are playing a gig on Friday.

Admission is free.