The Festival of Urban Art is taking place in Sandyford Industrial Estate, Co. Dublin this weekend and it is an interesting sounding project.

Sandyford Industrial Estate has its fair share of ‘distressed’ or unfinished properties and one of them, Sipter on Blackthorn Drive, is in the process of being partly completed and a new boulevard and park will form an important amenity for the residents and workers of the area. The project was designed by award winning firm, Smith and Kennedy Architects, and is being funded by NAMA as part of an overall strategy to bring the planned development to an acceptable condition.

16 Street Artists from 5 different countries are involved and they will decorate the hoarding along the new boulevard.

The website claims “the artists will run workshops for children and other activities will be organised to celebrate the creation of a new public space. A timetable of activities will be posted on the FUAS website.” Unfortunately, however, there is no further information to be found on the website.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

To celebrate the 250th birthday of Merrion Square a number of events will take place this month. From 03-29 Sept a Walking Tour will take place every Monday and Friday:
Discover the Square with Ingenious Ireland, with free guided tours every Monday and Friday throughout September. Meeting at 11:00 at the Oscar Wilde Statue. Advance booking is recommended.

The Tours take place on Mon 03+10+17+24 Sept and on Fri 07+14+21+28 Sept.

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

The World Peace Weekend Festival in Dublin will take place around the International Day of Peace, from Fri 21 – Sun 23 Sept. “Instruments of Peace” is the charity foundation that will organise and run the events in Dublin. In 2010, they had a very successful event at The Helix, the “Four Seasons of Peace” Concert and last year they had two impactful events at The Convention Centre Dublin reaching 2,000 people.

This year they are celebrating a “World Peace Weekend Festival” which starts with the observance of the U.N. One Minute of Silence at 12:00 on Fri 21 Sept. Ireland’s observance will be televised live by the U.N. through the UN PEACE DAY LIVE.TV.

+ The Opening Ceremony (11:30-12:30) in Dublin at Trinity College will be “A Minute of Silence, A Moment of Peace” and students and everybody else is invited to participate in a World Record attempt of 1,000 people to hold hands for One Minute of Silence. (Guinness Book of Records will adjudicate this event. Currently the record holder is Hiroshima in Japan, with 600 people holding hands for one minute in silence for Peace in May 2012.)

+ On Saturday 22 Sept, a Peace Conference will take place in the Mansion House from 11:00-15:30

+ On Sunday 23 Sept, the Closing Ceremony will take place in the Westin Hotel (16:00-18:00) and is entitled “Women of Spirit, Women of Peace”.

If you are interested in some or all events, you should check the details on the website www.peacebeginswithme.eu and register for these free events here www.amiando.com/worldpeacefestivalireland.html

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 Erdinger Oktoberfest is starting earlier than planned, it seems. Initially planned to start on 27 Sept, it now already kicks off on Thurs 20 Sept and will continue until 07 Oct. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, but the “passenger” number permitted on the platform in George’s Dock are soo stringent, that every year a long queue formed from around 18:00 (sometimes even earlier). Luckily there is some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

The Oktoberfest has been extremely popular in previous years and I don’t expect that to change, so expect big crowds…and enjoy the beer and food. After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. Allegedly due to Irish licensing laws you have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). The odd part is that this system only seems to apply to people who are on the George’s Dock platform and also it seems that only the person buying alcoholic drinks got checked for it in previous years. Make of this what you will. ;-)

Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

Park(ing) Day is a yearly worldwide event, that reclaims parking space for the use of the people living in the City. For that one day citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. Last year was the first year of Dublin’s participation and 15 Parking Spaces were turned into mini parks and lots of other things.

A whole range of organisations, including GoCar, See Change – the National Mental Health Stigma Reduction Partnership, the Irish Green Building Council, the Improvised Music Company, DIT Environment & Planning, the Dublin Cycling Campaign and many others will be on the streets turning car parks into public parks. It looks as if there will be 27 participants which would definitely be a strong show from Dublin.

A map is at www.dublinparkingday.org/ and if you want to follow the events on Twitter, use @ParkingDayDub

Look out for the spaces and enjoy the quirkiness of the idea.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

Culture Night is a brilliant night of free culture for all the family all over Dublin. For one night only the city’s museums, galleries, churches, historic houses, artists studios, cultural centres and more, will open their doors late for a night of free entertainment, discovery and adventure. Hundreds of talks, tours, performances and events will be organised for you and thousands will be out in the City to enjoy it and take it all in.

There are tooo many events to list them all here, but the great thing is that there is a good website that provides exactly that. Go to the Dublin section of the website at www.culturenight.ie/explore-the-night/ to find all events sorted by the part of the City you want to. There is also an iPhone and Android app available for free that will help you to find our way around all events throughout the night.

I will include a small selection of events in the Friday section if this Dublin Event Guide, to give you some ideas and recommendations, but I strongly recommend that you spend some time checking the schedule before Friday night and then pick a few things that you want to experience. The downloadable Culture Night programme is here www.culturenight.ie/wp-content/uploads/culture-web.pdf

I won’t link to the different destinations I can recommend, but I am sure you will find them. What I either enjoyed in previous years or would like to go to this year or in the future are:

Kilmainham Gaol (very long queues), Trinity Library/Book of Kells (very long queues), Leinster House, Freemason’s Hall (expect queues), Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublinia (very long queues), St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

The places with long queues need you to be there early. There are plenty of other places that are also interesting, but since some are not open during the year OR cost money normally, they are particularly popular.

The Contemporary Music Centre will be alive with sounds as it opens its doors to the public for Culture Night and hosts “Live at Our Place”, giving visitors the chance to hear what’s innovative and what’s vibrant in new music from Ireland.

Visitors are invited to drop in and sample live performances, improvisation and audiovisual works that will give a flavour of the diversity and creativity of Irish music today, as well as the range of composers represented by the Centre and the music that makes up its archive.

The Cork-based Quiet Music Ensemble and newly-founded Kirkos Ensemble will act as ensembles-in-residence for the evening, performing music by an array of young and established Irish composers. In addition, there will be solos and live electronic sets by guest performers and composers. CMC will also present live works and video screenings of collaborative image and sound works drawn from a call for submissions for the Culture Night event.

For Culture Night the Goethe-Institut Irland presents three new versions of well-known Grimm fairy tales on film and additionally storyteller Simone Schümmelfeder will tell two other fairytales (in English and German). The Language Department will have information on German Courses and the Library will sell books in English and German. Admission is free and more details are on the website.

Celebrate Family History on Culture Night. Talk to experts – try out sources – look at exhibitions – get new ideas. Advice and suggestions will be offered throughout the evening and first-time researchers are particularly welcome.
The Genealogical Society of Ireland will have a stand for the evening with information about the Society, as well as the One Name Study, the Irish DNA Atlas Project, the Irish-Jewish Society, and Ancestors Network Limited.
Participating genealogists include John Grenham, who writes a weekly column for The Irish Times and has been featured in RTE’s Genealogy Roadshow.
Admission is free and no booking required. All welcome.

The Irish Writers’ Centre will be playing its part in this year’s Culture Night. There will be readings by the Bealtaine writers group, storytelling with Milk and Cookies, readings and performances by short story writer Graham Tugwell. And later the monthly open mic night “Spoke” will take place. Details are here www.writerscentre.ie/html/events/culturenight2012.html

“Notte italiana a Dublino fra musiche e letteratura” with Gerardo Placido and the “Compagnia del Teatro Emigrato” is a Italian Culture Night at Culture Night. There will be poem recitals, music a theatrical performance of Luigi Pirandello’s “L’Uomo dal Fiore in Bocca”- “The Man with a Flower in his Mouth”, a theatrical performance of Stefano Benni’s “Il folletto delle brutte figure”- “The Goblin of the Sorry Figures” and a reading from Agostino Picicco’s book: “Tonino Bello”. Admission is free and more details can be found on the website.

With the Merrion250 event series going into the last round, Merrion Square venues will actively particiapte and contribute to Culture Night. Some of the highlights are:

+ “Merrion Square 250?, an exhibition of maps and drawings celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Square at the Irish Architectural Archive at No. 45. There will also be guided tours of what is the largest house on Merrion Square.
+ A celebration of Oscar Wilde through words, theatre, video and music at his childhood home at The American College Dublin at No. 1 Merrion Square, Oscar Wilde’s childhood home. This will include a production of ‘For Whom We Deliver’ by Donal Courtney, performed by the Gaiety School of Acting’s Youth Theatre Company.
+ 200 years of Grimm’s Fairy Tales: films and storytelling at The Goethe-Institut at No. 37 Merrion Square.
+ Guided tours of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including the Dáil and Seanad Chambers and the historic corridors of Leinster House. Booking required. Please note last tour commences at 10.15pm.
+ Live Traditional Music all evening in the Library of the Irish Traditional Music Archive at No. 73, and a screening of Come West Along the Road in the Special Collections Room.
+ A free visit to Number 29 Georgian House Museum to experience what life was like for the fortunate who lived in elegant townhouses, and the less fortunate who worked in them.
+ Special events and late night access to the National Gallery, National Library, National Print Museum (Beggars Bush) andNational Museum of Archaeology and Natural History.
+ Access to the elegant garden and charming rooms of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland at No. 63, including a Poetry Now open-mic (poetry, prose, comedy, etc) with music and special guests in the Helen Rowe Theatre.
+ The Cellar Bar at The Merrion Hotel will be hosting three 20-minute performances by Opera Theatre Company, with performances from sopranos Grace Birmingham and Joan O’Malley, accompanied by Aoife O’Sullivan.
+ Music at the Pepper Canister Church; Three special music performances by students of DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama plus guests. Times: 7.30pm, 8.30pm & 9.30pm.
+ The closure of neighbouring street Frederick Street, led by The Doorway Gallery, will bring a street party feel to the night, with a distinct Eastern influence. Expect live art drawing, exotic bellydance, traditional Japanese drumming, Jazz music, art demonstrations, fortune cookies and paper workshops.

From 17:00-22:00 tours will take place in the Academy House of the Royal Irish Academy. Booking is not required, but numbers are limited to 50 per tour and a tour will start every 45 minutes.

The Unitarian Church will have a music and talk programme fior Culture Night. The schedule is here:
17:00: Sarah Brown (organ)
18:00Church Building & Contents – a talk by Rory Delany
19:00 David O’Shea (organ)
20:00 What Do These Unitarians Believe ? – a talk by Rev. Bridget Spain
21.00 Charles Pearson (organ)
22:00 The Cause Of Liberty: Unitarian Radicals in the 18th Century – a talk by Fergus Whelan
The different presentations will start every hour, but will only last for about 20 minutes.

From 18:15-20:00 free guided (abbreviated) tours will give you a chance to have a look at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Before that from 17:30-18:15 an Evensong performance will take place (you have to be seated for it). Later at 20:30 a (non-free) Fringe Festival event will take place in the church.

Bestselling author of “How to Be a Woman” Caitlin Moran will celebrate the release of her new book “Moranthology” in Eason’s. She will be in conversation with Sinead Gleeson. Tickets are free and are available from the Eason O’Connell St. Information Desk or by calling 01 858 3800.

A free pre-concert organ recital which is linked to the (non-free) main evening concert in the National Concert Hall will take place. It will take place in the main auditorium of the National Concert Hall. Mark Duley (organ) and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra will play pieces of Mendelssohn, Sweelinck and Liszt. Admission is free, but booking is required at www.nch.ie

“The History, Art and Science of Bell Ringing” is a talk by Gary McGuire a former Ringing Master at Christ Church Cathedral.

As the installation NEW FAITH LOVE SONG: Garrett Phelan draws to its final days of exhibition (closes Sunday 23 September 2012), Professor Gary McGuire from the School of Mathematical Sciences in UCD presents an illustrated talk which explores the history, art and science of bell ringing. The talk will trace bell-ringing down through the ages, with an Irish emphasis, and will include a live demo. As part of the Culture Night on Friday the IMMA New galleries remain open until 21:00. A drinks reception will also be served. Admission is free and booking is required.

To coincide with World Alzheimer’s Day, CommuniCare, a Home Care Company based in Fariview, will be holding an Alzheimer’s Information Evening on Friday.
The topics of the talk will be:
+ Preventative Measures to slow the onset of Alzheimer’s,
+ How to recognise the signs of Alzheimer’s,
+ The Stages of Alzheimer’s,
+ How to Approach the topic of Alzheimer’s with your loved one
+ Living with Alzheimer’s,
+ What Supports are Available.
Admission is free, but places are limited so you should book via (01) 833 8000 or email info@communicare.ie

A new ‘Guide to Living with Alzheimer’s Disease’ developed by CommuniCare will also be launched on the evening and will be available to download for free at www.communicare.ie

Filmbase provides an extensive programme for Culture Night:

+ Intro to DSLR Filmmaking (19:00-20:00)
+ Introduction to editing using FInal Cut Pro X (20:30-21:30)
+ Q&A with Filmmaker Shimmy Marcus (20:30-21:30)

Short Film Screenings will take place throughout the evening on the Ground Floor. There will also be a Late Night Shorts Screening for which you need to reserve tickets.

All events are free, but the two workshops (and the Late Night Shorts) require booking. Check details on the website.

Following the success of last year’s mural painting, the Alliance Francaise are organising another live art event: a Post-it mosaic.

The guerre des post-its (office workers are fighting an art battle from their windows using multi-coloured post-it notes) became a huge phenomenon in France last year. The biggest effort extended over three floors and used more than 3,000 Post-it notes to create a design so complex it had to be worked out on a computer!

Come and take up the challenge using your imagination and your skills by creating something bigger, wackier and more adventurous….. Open to all age groups and admission is free.

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Friday at 19:30 at 4/5 Eustace Street, Temple Bar (next to IFI, ring bell no. 3)

A drop in class, with newcomers welcome.

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.

Spoke is the an open mic night at the Irish Writers Centre, taking place on the third Friday of every month. Writers, spoken word artists and musicians are all welcome to perform. This month it is a part of the Culture Night programme. Doors open at 19:30. Free admission. If you’d like to perform, please be prompt, so that you can get signed up when the doors open. writerscentre.ie/spoke/ Every Spoke will feature a guest performer. This month’s guest will be Maurice Scully.

Dame Court will be closed on Saturday for the MobilityWeek event and with Culture Night on Friday, there will also be two performances on Friday evening:
20:00-22:00 (NYC) Mike Scala Band
22:00-24:00 The Bang Bang Band

The Dublin Sidewalk Astronomers will meet at the Martello tower car park in Sandymount from to observe the first quarter Moon. If you have a telescope and you would like help with or if you just have general queries about the Irish Astronomical Society or astronomy, you are more than welcome to come along. This event is weather dependent. Please check the website at 18:00 on the day to confirm that the event is going ahead.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are: Fri 21 Sep: Bunko Bro’s

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 Dublin Food Co-op is open every Saturday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc. The Co-op is also open on Thursdays 12:00-20:00.

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.

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

Career Zoo is moving to the Convention Centre after the previous event in the Round Room was soo full that people had to queue outside for quite some time. The employers inside (most of the big and attractive ones were represented) struggled keeping up with all the demand and heaps and heaps of CVs were handed over.

This time all is promised to be bigger and better. Some of the big names are Aldi, Allianz, Amazon, EA, EMC, Ericsson, Fidelity, Fineos, Microsoft, Twitter. And in addition to the employee seeking companies and the student seeking 4th level educational institutes, there are 14 talks/Career Workshops.

But I seem to remember that last time Paypal, Accenture and Ernst & Young might have been represented as well, they are missing this time. Last time 60 exhibitors were at the Career Zoo, this time the number is 77, but from two days it has been reduced to one day only.

Admission is free and if you pre-register on the website, you entrance will go faster, but you can also register at the event.

The Festival of Urban Art is taking place in Sandyford Industrial Estate, Co. Dublin this weekend and it is an interesting sounding project.

Sandyford Industrial Estate has its fair share of ‘distressed’ or unfinished properties and one of them, Sipter on Blackthorn Drive, is in the process of being partly completed and a new boulevard and park will form an important amenity for the residents and workers of the area. The project was designed by award winning firm, Smith and Kennedy Architects, and is being funded by NAMA as part of an overall strategy to bring the planned development to an acceptable condition.

16 Street Artists from 5 different countries are involved and they will decorate the hoarding along the new boulevard.

The website claims “the artists will run workshops for children and other activities will be organised to celebrate the creation of a new public space. A timetable of activities will be posted on the FUAS website.” Unfortunately, however, there is no further information to be found on the website.

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

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

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.

Every Saturday until 25 Aug, Colette Burke, a Zumba fitness instructor, is running free Zumba fitness classes on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire from 10:30-12:30 (weather permitting). If you want to take part you can contact Colette on 087-2476673 and find more information on her website.

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.

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

The World Peace Weekend Festival in Dublin will take place around the International Day of Peace, from Fri 21 – Sun 23 Sept. “Instruments of Peace” is the charity foundation that will organise and run the events in Dublin. In 2010, they had a very successful event at The Helix, the “Four Seasons of Peace” Concert and last year they had two impactful events at The Convention Centre Dublin reaching 2,000 people.

+ On Saturday 22 Sept, a Peace Conference will take place in the Mansion House from 11:00-15:30

+ On Sunday 23 Sept, the Closing Ceremony will take place in the Westin Hotel (16:00-18:00) and is entitled “Women of Spirit, Women of Peace”.

If you are interested in the events, check the details on the website www.peacebeginswithme.eu and register for these free events here www.amiando.com/worldpeacefestivalireland.html

This will be the third year for “Yoga in the Park” and I think it is a brilliant initiative for a very worthy cause. From June until September, Fiona from www.twopalmsyoga.com invites to an hour of Yoga in Phoenix Park. No booking is required and you decide how much you give, the class is donation based. All proceeds go to the Dublin Simon Community, a charity that does invaluable work for the homeless people in Dublin. Just bring a mat or a towel, some water and (hopefully) even some sun protection to the class. Should the weather be bad, the bandstand will be shelter or even training location. The training is suitable for all levels, so even total beginners are very welcome.

The disappointing programme in Dublin for this important day in the European Mobility Week is “a range of activities based around family fun. Picnics and alfresco dining with games and entertainment will make this a day not to be missed. Face painting , balloon making, stilt walking and a historical talk with Pat Liddy, at 3pm, on Dame Court are just a few of the attractions awaiting you in Dublin on Saturday. This event takes place at Dame Court and Fade Street which will be pedestrianised on the day for the event.”

Not to be missed?? Yeah sure! We are not impressed, dear Dublin City Council!

P.S. After searching through pages after pages after pages, I did finally find one further piece of information: There will be an outdoor stage in Dame Court and on Saturday the lineup will be
18:00-20:00 NC Lawler
20:00-22:00 MOO!
22:00-24:00 The Cravings
and in the Mercantile on Saturday from 19:30 the following bands will perform:
Champagne Animal/The Tree Sleepers/Mister Ebby/ Amoon

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 Erdinger Oktoberfest is starting earlier than planned, it seems. Initially planned to start on 27 Sept, it now already kicks off on Thurs 20 Sept and will continue until 07 Oct. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, but the “passenger” number permitted on the platform in George’s Dock are soo stringent, that every year a long queue formed from around 18:00 (sometimes even earlier). Luckily there is some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

The Oktoberfest has been extremely popular in previous years and I don’t expect that to change, so expect big crowds…and enjoy the beer and food. After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. Allegedly due to Irish licensing laws you have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). The odd part is that this system only seems to apply to people who are on the George’s Dock platform and also it seems that only the person buying alcoholic drinks got checked for it in previous years. Make of this what you will. ;-)

Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

Arts, crafts and vintage stalls will be selling “marvel-ous items of fantasticalness at affordable prices”. There will also be face-painting, hula-hooping, tarot card reading and belly dancing performances. Performances by Kaatna Tribal (American tribal dance duo) and Irish hoopers’ Mairead (hula hooping) wil take place. Admission is free.

Astronomy Ireland are continuing their weekly Sun Shows at the Astronomy Ireland Shop in Swords. Each Saturday, the staff of the Astronomy Ireland Shop will be showing you amazing views of our nearest star. Using special filters and some of the largest telescopes in Ireland you will get to see sunspots bigger than Earth and huge solar flare bursting from our nearest star. If it’s cloudy, there will be a telescope demonstration and you will find out how you can safely observe the Sun and undertake some daytime astronomy using your own telescope.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

To allow for cleaning after the expected riotous excesses of Culture Night ;-) the Irish Writers’ Centre will stay closed on Saturday and therefore the “Ink Slingers” Creative Writing Hours will NOT take place. Ink Slingers will be back next Saturday.

The Ink Slingers Creative Writing Hour takes place every Saturday at the Irish Writers’ Centre. It is a free creative writing session that is organised and led by the Centre’s voluntary arts administrators. The hour includes writing exercises and prompts to get ideas flowing. It is open to everyone and is suitable for all levels of experience.

Popular and successful children’s book author Derek Landy, will be signing copies of his new book “Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked” in Dubray Books, Bray. Admission is free.

On Saturday the Blanchardstown Garda Station invites to an Open Day. The Garda Band will be providing music, many Garda Units will be there and visitors will can learn about Garda Mounted Unit, Garda Dog Unit, Garda Water Unit and see Garda vehicles Vintage and current. Local groups will also have displays, Farmers Market, Vintage Cars and Phoenix FM will be broadcasting live.

Yes, this is an odd one! :-) It is a Flash-mob style event and will be a Sword Fight between Red and Blue. There will be 40 Shields available, but you might want to bring your own. Make sure it is Blue or Red. And bring your own plastic sword. You can get it for EUR 2, check the Facebook Page. Could be fun if lots of people take part! :-)

The Ukulele Band “Ukeristic Congress” are playing in Whelan’s every second Saturday. I heard them twice now at the Ukulele Festival and Dun Laoghaire and can definitely recommend them.

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.

Two chamber choirs, Örebro Folkkör from Sweden and the Cappella Choir from Dublin will perform and admission is free.

Pop/Rock Band “Common Wolf” from Tallaght (and guests) are playing in Whelan’s on Saturday.

This is a weekly Saturday night with changing performers in the basement Wine Cave of KC Peaches wholefood restaurant/café. Food will be served until 22:00 and wine, minerals & music will be available until later. Admission is free and a donation into a hat at the end of the evening is appreciated. Check the facebook page to find out who will perform.

8-piece Indie-Folk-Pop band “The Crayon Set” will be releasing their debut single “I Wanted You” on 22 Sept. It will be available as a free download from their website www.thecrayonset.com (for a limited time). They will be supported by “Adela and the Meanits”. Admission is free.

The Urban Mojo Blues Band,is a Dublin based five piece band drawing influences from electric Chicago blues and rock to produce a lively uptempo grooving blues will be performing every Saturday in Oil Can Harry’s. www.facebook.com/pages/The-Urban-Mojo-Blues-Band/87569518524

The Festival of Urban Art is taking place in Sandyford Industrial Estate, Co. Dublin this weekend and it is an interesting sounding project.

Sandyford Industrial Estate has its fair share of ‘distressed’ or unfinished properties and one of them, Sipter on Blackthorn Drive, is in the process of being partly completed and a new boulevard and park will form an important amenity for the residents and workers of the area. The project was designed by award winning firm, Smith and Kennedy Architects, and is being funded by NAMA as part of an overall strategy to bring the planned development to an acceptable condition.

16 Street Artists from 5 different countries are involved and they will decorate the hoarding along the new boulevard.

The website claims “the artists will run workshops for children and other activities will be organised to celebrate the creation of a new public space. A timetable of activities will be posted on the FUAS website.” Unfortunately, however, there is no further information to be found on the website.

The Farmleigh Food Market at Farmleigh House will take place again this Sunday. Food products from around Ireland either to eat there or to bring home will be available.

From 14:00-16:00 the Emilie Conway Band will perform Jazz and swing on the Bandstand in the gardens of Farmleigh House.

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale. Every Sunday from 10:00-17:00 the Jamestown Market is taking place. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on red Luas line.

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

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 Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

The Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

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.

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.

On Sunday the Ranelagh Arts Festival, we’ll be running a busking competition at a number of locations around the streets of Ranelagh. The competition is open to all performers, any age, any skill and there will be a panel of judges, looking to give one lucky act a top prize.

The Erdinger Oktoberfest is starting earlier than planned, it seems. Initially planned to start on 27 Sept, it now already kicks off on Thurs 20 Sept and will continue until 07 Oct. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, but the “passenger” number permitted on the platform in George’s Dock are soo stringent, that every year a long queue formed from around 18:00 (sometimes even earlier). Luckily there is some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

The Oktoberfest has been extremely popular in previous years and I don’t expect that to change, so expect big crowds…and enjoy the beer and food. After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. Allegedly due to Irish licensing laws you have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). The odd part is that this system only seems to apply to people who are on the George’s Dock platform and also it seems that only the person buying alcoholic drinks got checked for it in previous years. Make of this what you will. ;-)

Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

The Beauty House in Corduff is running a fundraising event with Bouncing Castles, Food (BBQ), Competitions,
Refreshments for adults and children, Special Offers and lots more. Admission is free.

Arts, crafts and vintage stalls will be selling “marvel-ous items of fantasticalness at affordable prices”. There will also be face-painting, hula-hooping, tarot card reading and belly dancing performances. Performances by Kaatna Tribal (American tribal dance duo) and Irish hoopers’ Mairead (hula hooping) wil take place. Admission is free.

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

The Sundays at Noon Concert Series is back after the summer break and takes place again in the Sculpture Gallery at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Now in its 36th year, this series of free (mainly classical) concerts continues to present the best of Irish and International music and musicians. Concerts run from September to June. The next concert will feature the National Chamber Choir of Ireland conducted by David Hill and performing works by Victoria, Tallis, Rubbra and Poulenc.

Brasserie Sixty6 is inviting to a Jazz Brunch every Sunday. The line-up for the next few Sundays is 23 Sept: Gavin McCaffrey, 30 Sept: Michael McLennan. As you can imagine food and drinks are not free, but there is no cover or admission charge for the music.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

A free family fun day will take place in Cabinteely Park beside Cabinteely House. The Cabinteely Carnival features bouncy castles and inflatable games, face painters, clowns, unicycles and street performance shows.

A special circus skills area will be set up so children can learn how to juggle and clown around for a bit. The DLR Sports Dept will be in Cabinteely running some sporty fun (3 legged races, egg and spoon races, wheel barrow races and many more). Rugby enthusiasts can try rugby kicking and passing skills and golf fans can try “snag” golf (a golf version for beginners).

You can bring a blanket and your picnic basket full of food or buy some food from the market stalls.

All activities are free but parking is very limited at the park so organisers are recommending people to walk or use public transport where possible. Dublin Bus services the area with bus numbers 45, 46A, 84 and 145.

The “1916 Walking Tour” entitled “Ranelagh, Rebels and The Rising” is a walking tour that starts at the Ranlegah Arts Centre and is lead by James Connolly-Heron, a great granson of James Connolly. Find more details here www.ranelagharts.org/#/sat-22-sun-23/4568562361

The “Dublin Sketchers” is an informal group of typically hobby artists who go somewhere different in Dublin every Sunday (e.g. National Museum, Maritime Museum, Dublin Flea Market, Farmleigh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin Castle), 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 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!

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

Come to the Family Drawing Sundays in the RHA. All children are welcome to use the RHA Art Cart, in the RHA Atrium. Admission is free. For further information, contact Ruth Carroll on 01 6612558 or via ruth@rhagallery.ie

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 next Sunday Sketching for 7+ Year olds has the title “At the Seaside”. No booking necessary. Admission is free and early arrival is recommended.

The public lecture “The Eve of St Agnes by Harry Clarke” with lecturer Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, Art Historian will take place. Admission is free and no booking is required, but places are limited.

The World Peace Weekend Festival in Dublin will take place around the International Day of Peace, from Fri 21 – Sun 23 Sept. “Instruments of Peace” is the charity foundation that will organise and run the events in Dublin. In 2010, they had a very successful event at The Helix, the “Four Seasons of Peace” Concert and last year they had two impactful events at The Convention Centre Dublin reaching 2,000 people.

+ On Sunday 23 Sept, the Closing Ceremony will take place in the Westin Hotel (16:00-18:00) and is entitled “Women of Spirit, Women of Peace”.

If you are interested in the events, check the details on the website www.peacebeginswithme.eu and register for these free events here www.amiando.com/worldpeacefestivalireland.html

Saucy Sundays is a weekly free live music afternoon and evening in the Grand Social. This week’s line up is Robert Delaney & Band, Mike Scala & Band, Toy Soldier, The Mandolas, The Curtain Thieves, Lisa McLaughlin, Keith Moss.

A meet-up for everyone who is interested in Burlesque. Discuss, planning, ideas and costumes. Admission is free.

The Gardiner Street Gospel Mass invites to a Gospel Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church at the top of Gardiner Street near the junction with Dorset Street every Sunday at 19:30.
Everybody is welcome independent from your level of religiousness.

Every Sunday a band will play from 21:00-22:30, a Latin Beat Club, Brazilian DJs and Salsa Classes (from 18:00) are additional features. Admission is free.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy downstairs in Stag’s Head, Dame Lane from 21:00 every week on Sun+Mon. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of that there is some free ice cream. This Sunday’s line up is Chris Kent as the headliner and there will also be David Reilly, Matt Sadlier and more.

Rogério from the Brazilian dance project “Forró de Lampião” in Dublin tells me: Forró de Lampião is Brazilian music that has the same roots as Samba and there is a whole culture that has developed around “forro”. Every Sunday, free dance classes take place in Sweeney’s Bar on Dame Street and if you are interested, just turn up one Sunday.

Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys are playing a weekly gig in Whelan’s Front Bar on Sundays. Their music is swing, blues, bebop and doo wop. Admission is free. www.whelanslive.com

“Rhythm Rocker at The Globe” is a weekly event on Sunday night in The Globe in Sth Great Georges Street, Dublin 2. It is a Rockabilly, R’n’R, Roots night with alternating (week by week) live bands Pavement Kings, Donna & The Sazzy Catz, The Mosquitoes and The Pacifics from 21:00 and with DJs from 23:00-01:30. Admission is free.

The weekly Sunday Roast is an event in the Mercantile where live music is combined with free roast potatoes. The next Sunday Roast line up is Aidan COmerford, Cfit, Moonlight Red, The City Apples. Admission is free.

Every Sunday (except at Bank Holiday weekends), the Ragtime, Roots and Country Blues Band “Cool Hand Dukes” play in the Porterhouse near Grafton Street.

A “Corn Flakes and Commerce” business breakfast with Ferdinand von Prondzynski will take place in the National College of Ireland. Von Prondzynski will talk about “The end of the campus university? New learning in a new age.” Admission is free, but booking via the website is required.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

To celebrate the 250th birthday of Merrion Square a number of events will take place this month. From 03-29 Sept a Walking Tour will take place every Monday and Friday:
Discover the Square with Ingenious Ireland, with free guided tours every Monday and Friday throughout September. Meeting at 11:00 at the Oscar Wilde Statue. Advance booking is recommended.

The Tours take place on Mon 03+10+17+24 Sept and on Fri 07+14+21+28 Sept.

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 Erdinger Oktoberfest will continue until 07 Oct. Expect queues to get on the George’s Dock platform even during the week. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. You have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

As part of MSF Ireland Week, MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières) is bringing a simulated cholera treatment centre on tour around Ireland. Visitors can immerse themselves in the world of MSF’s frontline emergency humanitarian work, experiencing the exact type of treatment centre used in real-life crises such as recent cholera outbreaks in Haiti, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Treatment beds and equipment will be on display, along with iPads on which visitors can engage with video footage from MSF projects around the world. The cholera tent will be staffed by MSF volunteers, who will share their experiences of working overseas, answer questions and give visitors the chance to find out first-hand about MSF’s lifesaving work.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

“To raise a bilingual child entails a great effort that stretches over a number of years. How does a child acquire language? Does bilingualism differ if we learn a second language from birth or from later on? Which is the best way to transmit two languages without creating imbalances? What are the effects of bilingualism on children’s intellectual development? How to help an adolescent to take advantage of double linguistic and cultural references? What does it mean to shape one’s identity from two languages and two cultures? Finally, how can the parents keep the skills of the minority language alive for their children? These are the questions and the themes we will consider and which we will attempt to answer during these two meetings.”

Dr. Sergio Spinelli, Psychologist and Jungian Psychotherapist, will talk about this on 17 and 24 Sept. Admission is free.

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Monday from 19:00 in Blakestown Community Resource Centre (next to Lidl).

This is a drop in class, with newcomers are welcome.

The group explains: “Exchange Focus is a collective photography group. We act as a forum and meeting point for Dublin photographers to share techniques and collaborate on projects. We regularly exhibit our member’s work and run free workshops in all aspects of photography. The group meets every second week on Monday nights and is open to everyone. We try to cater for all levels of experience.”

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday and Monday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. This Monday’s line up is Edwin Sammon & Kevin Goldsmith with support from John Brennan & Diarmaid O’Neil.

Every Monday, a mix of musicians from bands like The Seven Deadly Skins / Animal Cracker / Upbeat Generation / Crete Boom & more come together to play a free night of Rock & Reggae.

This is an unusual “event” for all under 18 year olds. RTÉ is inviting the young people of Ireland to join in the creation of “Life’s Like This”, a unique and extraordinary documentary experiment. They want to include as many children as possible and are asking all children or their families or friends to record roughly two minutes of something they did, saw or thought on the day. It could be anything, important or not so much. Just what life is like.
“Life’s Like This” is a platform for the 1.2 million under-18s to express who they are across the children’s television schedule – a timely insight into Irish children as the country prepares to vote in the first ever referendum on the rights of children.
Contributions should be filmed on Tues 25 Sept and they can be filmed on a smart-phone, an i-phone, a video camera, anything. Anyone who owns a recording device can be part of Life’s Like This. Clips can then be simply uploaded on the RTÉ Young Peoples dedicated website. An easy to follow step by step guide on the RTE young peoples website at www.rte.ie/trte/lifeslikethis/ will explain how to upload the video clip and what is important to know about how to take part.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

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 Erdinger Oktoberfest will continue until 07 Oct. Expect queues to get on the George’s Dock platform even during the week. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. You have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

The artist Sean Lynch will discuss his project for Sleepwalkers on view in Gallery 8 of the Hugh Lane Gallery.Admission to this talk is free and no booking is required.

The Music Library in the Central Library is inviting to “From clarity to chaos!”, where Michael Grant traces the development of western music across four centuries. The talks are
+ 11 Sept: 1600 to 1800 A.D.
+ 19 Sept: The 19th century
+ 25 Sept: From 1900 to date
Admission is free, but booking is essential.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The Art of Voice is a lunchtime concert of antique and modern sacred choral masterpieces performed by Tonnta, led by Robert Blake, as they explore the acoustics of the Atrium at the Royal Hibernian Academy. Drawn from past and present members of Trinity College, this group specialises in performing in unusual spaces. Admission is free.

Booking is required at artofvoice.eventbrite.ie/ (You will have to copy the link, unfortunately I can’t make it clickable.) By the way, ignore the map and the location on the Eventbrite booking page. The event definitely takes place in Dublin and NOT in New Jersey!

In the film series “Great figures of Mexican cinema” (dublin.cervantes.es/FichasCultura/Ficha81660_16_2.htm) the next film screening is “Ahí está el detalle” by Juan Bustillo Oro (1940). The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.

This award-winning documentary was filmed in the war-zones of Liberia and Congo, following four MSF (Médicins Sans Frontières) volunteers as they struggle to provide emergency medical care under extreme conditions. With different levels of experience, each volunteer must find their own way to face the challenges, the tough choices, and the limits of their idealism. ‘Living in Emergency’ is a window into the seldom-portrayed and less than glamorous side of humanitarian aid work. It explores a world that is challenging, complex, and fraught with dilemmas – the struggles, both internal and external, that aid workers face when working in war zones and other difficult contexts.

Admission is free but booking is required. Email kelly@dhr.ie to register.

Open Mic Night with The Last Tycoons in O’Donoghue’s on Suffolk Street every Tues from 20:00. It’s free and anyone can get up, sing a song or do whatever they like.

The new weekly “Grand Folk Club” will feaure Trad, Ballads, Americana, Folk, World Music & More. This Tuesday, the line-up is: Mairead Phelan & Luke Deiton + Guests (Americana). Admission is free.

White Chocolate is playing Rock Covers from 23:30 in The Mezz in Temple Bar.

“Filling the Whitespace” is a series of talks, presentations and demonstrations. Radio spectrum will become available when the Irish analogue TV signals are switched off at the end of October 2012. The unused White Spaces will be up for grabs. But, who will use this spectrum? And what for? – Some of these questions have already been addressed by both industry and regulators in the USA and the UK where the digital TV switchover has already advanced. Suggested uses of this spectrum range from new WiFi-like devices for increased broadband connectivity, to machine-to-machine (M2M) applications, to new mobile network operator deployments.” The Filling the White Spaces workshop will inform an Irish audience about these opportunities by sharing the experiences of companies that have already conducted trials in the UK and USA. A selection of companies will speak at the workshop.

Admission to this event is free, but registration is required. Find all details on the website below.

The Ranelagh Arts Festival will run from 15-30 Sept, spanning over three weekends. There are a good few non-free events in the programme, so you have to have a close look, but it still leaves lots of interesting free events. Instead of listing all events and because the website is very easy to navigate, I will ask you to check the events at www.ranelagharts.org/

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 Erdinger Oktoberfest will continue until 07 Oct. Expect queues to get on the George’s Dock platform even during the week. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. You have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The talk “Jonathan Barker, John Rocque and the early mapping of Merrion Square” with Dr John Montague, Royal Irish Academy will take place on Wed. Admission is free, but booking is essential via 01 6633040 or slincoln@iarc.ie

“How To Be Motivated, Positive and Successful in Life and Work” with Shane Stanley, Business Consultant & Life Coach, is the next talk and workshop in the Dublin City Public Libraries’ Career Direction and Development Programme. Admission is free, but booking is recommended via (01) 873 3996 or businesslibrary@dublincity.ie

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.

In the film series “Great figures of Mexican cinema” (dublin.cervantes.es/FichasCultura/Ficha81660_16_2.htm) the next film screening is “Yo bailé con Don Porfirio” by Gilberto Martínez Solares (1942). The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Salomon Poetry Launch of “Empire of Shadows” by Hugh McFadden and “Where Sadness Begins” by John MacKenna will take place.

“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, a band from Dublin that draws influences from all over the music spectrum including Rory Gallagher, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Deep Purple, blues rock and classic rock, is playing every Wednesday in Mother Reilly’s.

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 Ferocious Mingle Market takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The location of the new indoor market is 72 Thomas Street (between the Vicar St venue & Cafe Notto) an opening hours are 11:00-18:00. There is also a Café, the Oscar Verne Café, open for business at the market.

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 Dublin Food Co-op is open every Thursday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc.
The Co-op is also opened on Saturdays 09:30 – 16:30. 12:00-20:00.

The Erdinger Oktoberfest will continue until 07 Oct. Expect queues to get on the George’s Dock platform even during the week. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. You have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

Lunchtime Market at Christ Church Cathedral from 12:00-15:00.

The third Lunch Beat event in Dublin will take place this week in Lafayette near O’Connell Bridge. Lunch Beat is an hour of dancing in your lunchtime and it is an event that is inspired by the international Lunch Beat movement. Nice central location! Admission is free.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings in September and you can find all details on the website below. Admission to all lunchtime screenings is free, just collect your ticket at the ticket desk.

The Public Lecture “A Rotten Judge of Pictures’? Chester Beatty’s Collection of French Paintings” with Fionnuala Croke, Director, Chester Beatty Library will take place.

Damien Kelly (guitar) will play works by Irish Composer Ciaran Farrell. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

Curator Padraic E. Moore will talk about George Russell A.E., a visionary poet, mystic painter, theosophist and evangelist for the Co-operative movement for which he was one of the first employees at No 84 Merrion Square, where they still have their Headquarters. Admission is free, but booking (via the website below) is required.

The National College of Ireland is inviting you to the public lecture “Algorithm Design for Map-Reduce” by Dr Jeffrey Ullman, Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. More information is available on the website. Admission is free, but booking is required.

The lecture will be given by Onora O’Neill. She is a prominent political philosopher, who has written widely on ethics, international justice, bioethics and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. She also works on questions of trust and accountability in public life. Admission is free, but booking is essential.

Since its inception three years (or so) ago I complained that if Guinness really wanted to involve the masses and make this advertisement campaign accessible to everyone, they should stop selling tickets for the gigs and make the gigs free. I do NOT think that they listened to me, BUT that’s exactly what they are doing this year. “Arthur’s Day” is for the first time free and has widened its scope significantly. More than 500 events will take place throughout Ireland with more than 200 taking place in Dublin. And on top of that there will be a You Tube channel this year where you can follow some of the main events online ( www.youtube.com/user/GuinnessEurope). Great idea!

Some people think that “Arthur’s Day” is the celebration of Arthur Guinness’ birthday, but that is not the case (nobody seems to know when exactly he was born!). It is purely a Guinness driven PR stunt, however it is definitely working for them as it is a very popular event. And I have to say that 500 free music events throughout Ireland is an achievement that deserves praise. Bands and audience benefit equally.

The Guinness website has a whole section dedicated to this day and there is a map that contains all events. I found it a little difficult to navigate and would have appreciated a list of all the events sorted by County. But I guess the intention is to get you to go to your local pub instead of travelling to your prefered music event.

In previous years a big emphasis was put on drinking Guinness at 17:59 (In 1759 the Guinness Brewery in Dublin was founded). This emphasis seems to have removeda nd again I think it makes sense! It was a silly idea and the time was much tooo early to be congruent with responsible drinking.

So my cynicism from previous years is gone and all behind the idea! :-) I still don’t like the taste of Guinness, but, hey, don’t hold that against me! ;-)

Copán in Rathmines certainly got a top act for their Arthur’s Day gig. Ryan Sheridan is a brilliant and hugely successful musician with a very unique style of guitar playing. I have to admit that I prefer his older arrangements, the newer songs and arrangements have lost a good bit of his unique and orignal style, but he is nevertheless definitely worth going to Copan. Doors is at 17:00 and the show starts at 18:00. A DJ will entertain afterwards. Admission is free and tickets are not required.

Picture book master Oliver Jeffers and Laureate na nOg Niamh Sharkey will be in Eason O’Connell Street on Thursday. “Whether you’re a budding illustrator, a picture book connoisseur or just a fan of Oliver Jeffers’ hat, come on Thursday for an evening of draw-along fun. Tickets are free and are available from the Eason O’Connell Street information desk or by calling (01) 858 3800.

Philip R. Lane, Whately Professor of Political Economy and Head of the Economics Department, will address the report on banks and cross-border capital flows which is being launched by the Committee on International Economic and Policy Reform (CIEPR) in Washington DC on September 26. The CIEPR is a non-partisan and non-ideological group of independent experts, comprised of academic, such as Professor Lane, and former government and central bank officials. The objective of the group is to analyze global monetary and financial problems, offer systematic analysis and advance reform ideas that would ordinarily not emerge from official processes.

This TCD School of Social Sciences and Philosophy lecture is open to the everyone and admission is free. However advance registration is required because space is limited. Check the website for details.

The next event in the SFI Speaker Series is entitled “Strange Materials” with Mark Miodownik. Admission is free, but pre-booking is essential.

On our Earth there are living things which we call life, and there are non-living things which we call rocks, tools, buildings and so on. As a result of our greater understanding of matter, this distinction is now becoming blurred and a new materials age is about to start.
Mark Miodownik, from the Institute of Making, believes bionic people with synthetic organs, bones and even brains will be the norm. Just as we become more synthetic, so our man-made environment is changing to become more lifelike: living buildings, and objects that heal-themselves are on the horizon.

A new set of six free lectures on topics around “Start and Grow your Own Business” will take place in the Central Library in association with the Dublin City Entreprise Board. If you have recently started your own business or if you are contemplating self-employment, this lecture series is for you. The talks are free, but you have to book your place. You find all details and how to book on www.dceb.ie/starting-a-business/library-talks

The upcoming talks are
13 Sept: An Introduction to Self Employment
20 Sept: Ideas Generation & Market Research
27 Sept: Ethnic Entrepreneurship
04 Oct: Digital Marketing and Social Media
11 Oct: Financing Your Business
18 Oct: Business Planning Structure

Stone & Jezreel will perform in the Vanilla Night Club on Arthur’s Day. Admission is free. DJ Motion Latina will support.

The Dublin Writers’ Forum welcomes writers of all genres, of all ages and all levels of experience. DWF is an open group of writers who share a common passion for all things literary. It is a safe ‘working space’ where on a weekly basis writers can bring their work to be critiqued by other writers.

The inaugural Burning Bush 2 reading will take place at the Irish Writers’ Centre with readings from Dublin based poets Christodoulos Makris and Kevin Graham. They will be supported on the night by an open mic (the first 6 people to sign up on arrival will get a slot).

Dimestore Recordings run a weekly event in Sweeney Mongrel’s, Dame Street (formerly Le Cirk) with a variety of bands and performers. It starts at 20:00, follow the link for the line up.

Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys are playing a weekly gig in the Mercantile Hotel on Thursdays. Their music is swing, blues, bebop and doo wop. Admission is free.

The Max Zaska group and the Patrick Groenland group will perform on alternating Thursdays from 21:00 in the International Bar on 23 Wicklow Street.

“Thirsty Thursday” Open Mic Night from 21:00 in the Bridge Inn in Chapelizod Village.

The next Cabin Sessions with the McGrane Family with Con Butler (bass) & Gerry Fitzpatrick (dobro). Special Guests Mike & Carena
(Latin Folk), The Elga Fox Trio (Jazz/Folk), Lynda Lucas & The Natural Born Heathens (Country) will take place.

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

The Bionic Rats play live Reggae and Ska every Thursday in Turk’s Head from 22:00. Admission is free.

To celebrate the 250th birthday of Merrion Square a number of events will take place this month. From 03-29 Sept a Walking Tour will take place every Monday and Friday:
Discover the Square with Ingenious Ireland, with free guided tours every Monday and Friday throughout September. Meeting at 11:00 at the Oscar Wilde Statue. Advance booking is recommended.

The Tours take place on Mon 03+10+17+24 Sept and on Fri 07+14+21+28 Sept.

The Erdinger Oktoberfest will continue until 07 Oct. Expect queues to get on the George’s Dock platform even during the week. The beer tent and the FULL selection of food is only available on George’s Dock, some food and beer also available in the area next to the chq Building, but you won’t have music there and some foods are not available there either.

After 22:00 a very odd wristband system is in place. You have to buy a wristband for EUR 6 and you get a EUR 5 voucher for “a substantial meal” with it. (EUR 1 goes to a charity). Note: Only cash, no credit or Laser cards will be accepted.

The Classical Buteyko Method is a drug-free approach to optimal health and for a reversal of a variety of chronic health problems both mild, as well as much more severe. Professor Buteyko discovered the impact that the depth & rate of our breathing has on our well-being. and he also studied different ways of correcting those breathing patterns that lead to the development of serious chronic diseases. The result of this research is the “Buteyko Method”. At this meeting, which is event (Buddha Bag Meeting), you will learn about and practice the Buteyko Method. Admission is free

The launch of “Forensic Songs”, a colletion of short stories by Mike McCormack will take place, which is published by Lilliput Press.

A classical music evening with the “Duo Chagall” entitled “Autumn Sounds” will take place in Farmleigh House. The event is free, but ticketed and to request tickets you need to send a mail to farmleighinfo@opw.ie with the subject “Autumn Sounds – Friday 28 Sept”. Farmleigh House events do always “sell” out, so do not hesitate with your ticket request! It is not clear if there will be a lottery or a first come first served system for the tickets.