Phizzfest, the Phibsborough Arts Festival, is a community festival in that part of Dublin’s Northside, that entertains locals and everybody else for the last three years with a huge variety of events. Until last year it took place in September and was a week long festival. This year, for the first time, it will take place in May just for one weekend and then there will be other stand-alone events during the year.

The programme (in PDF) is here www.phizzfest.ie/2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Phizzfest_2013_Pprogramme.pdf

There will be many free events and other events are not free, just check out the programme to find out the details. Here are some free Friday events:

+ Dublin Boat Rally (on Royal Canal) arrives during the day
+ Storytelling will take place in the Phibsborough Library (15:00)
+ Archaeology of Grangegorman – Lecture by Franc Myles in St. Peter’s Sacristy (18:30)
+ Phizzfest Bookclub – A popup book club on the Laura Clancy Canal Boat (19:30-21:00) with readings/discussions on Strumpet City

Some events at the festival are free but require booking, so check out the full programme even ahead of the weekend in case you need to book an event that you would like to attend.

The next lecture in the SFI Speaker Series will be “The upside of risk” with David Spiegelhalter.

David Spiegelhalter is the Winton Professor for the Public Understanding of Risk at Cambridge. He’s also one of the curators of the next exhibition in the Science Gallery, the Risk Lab, which will explore the maths and psychology of probability, chance, and risk.

As part of the SFI Speaker Series, David will take a behind-the-scenes look at RISK LAB – the themes it explores, the questions it asks, and the science it’s based on. David will talk about his work on the public perception of risk, explaining why the mathematical likelihood of something happening doesn’t necessarily align with the decisions we make about it.

Why do some people take risks, while others play it safe? How are people triggered into betting against the odds and why does the house always win? We’ll be talking about risk-taking personalities and why some people ignore the maths when they gamble or take chances. We’ll also be looking at the upside of risk – at serendipity and coincidence, as well as the maths and psychology of happy accidents.

Admission is free, but booking is required on the website below.

A free Greek and European Folk Dance class open to all. Contact Katerini Papathanasiou on papath.kat@gmail.com

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.

“Dublin Tribal Spirit” is a weekly event that gives you the great experience of a drumming circle with african drums and authentic tribal rhythms. Tom and Sinead, who run that event are providing lots of drums for it and teach you the rhythms.

There is no formal admission charge for this event, but donations are expected. The organisers bring their own 20-30 drums to it every week, so they are looking for donations to keep the event going.

The Addison Lodge are inviting local bands, musicians, poets, comedians and performers to share their talents at the new Addison Lodge Open Mic Nights in Glasnevin (opposite the Botanic Gardens). The event will take place every week. Admission is free.

The yearly Bray Jazz Festival will take place this weekend for the 14th time and thereare lots of events in pubs and venues in Bray. Most top events are not free, but there are some free concerts in the main programme and in addition there are many free gigs and in the pubs of Bray in the evenings (the Molson Canadian Jazz Trail).

The upcoming free events over this weekend are:

– Fri 03 May: (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sat 04 May (13:00-18:00 – Bray Civic Plaza): Hopa! – Balkan style Jazz, featuring She’Koyokh (UK/Turkey/Serbia/Greece), Paprika (UK/Hungary/Serbia), Yurodny (Ireland), North Strand Kontra Band (Ireland)
+ Sat 04 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sun 05 May: (13:30-15:00 – The Well, Main Street, Bray): Brass Jaw – Bray Jazz Workshop
“Demystifying Jazz”
+ Sun 05 May (14:00-17:00 – Royal Hotel): Jazz Showcase with Phisqa, Butter, The Multiverse
+ Sun 05 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below.

Fri 03 May: Donal Kirk
Sat 04 May: The Cut Backs
Sun 05 May: Paul Magee Classic, Tow the Line, Donal Kirk

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.

Phizzfest, the Phibsborough Arts Festival, is a community festival in that part of Dublin’s Northside, that entertains locals and everybody else for the last three years with a huge variety of events. Until last year it took place in September and was a week long festival. This year, for the first time, it will take place in May just for one weekend and then there will be other stand-alone events during the year.

The programme (in PDF) is here www.phizzfest.ie/2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Phizzfest_2013_Pprogramme.pdf

There will be many free events and other events are not free, just check out the programme to find out the details. Here are some free Saturday events (find out more details in the Phizzfest programme or on the website):

+ Grangegorman Walking Tour (10:00)
+ Visit to the Fire Brigade Station for children 5+ (10:30 + 14:00)
+ Arts Clinic (11:00-13:00)
+ Phizzfest Pop-up Museum (13:00-16:00)
+ Phibsborough and the 1913 Dublin Lockout – Talk (14:00)
+ Family Day on the Canalbank at Shandon (14:00)
+ Boat Rides (14:00)
+ Drawing in public (14:00-17:00)
+ The Broadstone Branch – Theatre (15:00)
+ U10 Kiddies Disco (16:00)
+ Duck Race (17:00)

Many events at the festival are free and some require booking, so check out the full programme even ahead of the weekend in case you need to book an event that you would like to attend.

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.

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.

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

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 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 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.

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher will run every Saturday. 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 egaldog@gmail.com or 085-2725095

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.

Eason Story Time is back. As part of Eason’s “Get Into Reading” campaign, a specially selected children’s book will be read at 11:00 each Saturday in every Eason store in the country. On the website below are the dates and book titles from now until mid-June and for the next two months I have them included here:

04 May: Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman & Ben Cort
11 May: Dinosaurs in the Supermarket by Timothy Knapman & Sarah Warburton
18 May: Squash & A Squeeze 20th Anniversary Edition by Julia Donaldson
25 May: Hugless Douglas & The Big Sleep by David Melling
01 Jun: I Am Not Sleepy & I Will Not Go To Bed by Lauren Child
08 Jun: This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers
15 Jun: Come On, Daisy by Jane Simmons

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) 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 on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

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 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. Dux & Co will offer food and the Grand Social’s Bar and Gourmet Coffee options are available.

The next Pop-Up Record Fair by Irish Record Fairs will take place on Sat in Sweeney’s Mongrel. Admission is free.

We find it tricky to evaluate risk and chance! Do you still smoke despite the risk? And do you play lotto despite the tiny chance of winning? Why does the house always win? Is it better to do business with a bookie or a banker? How do emotions, scenarios, or media skew our assessment of the odds? And is it possible to recalibrate our perceptions of risk?

These are just some of the questions that Risk Lab, the latest experiment-based ‘Lab InThe Gallery’ show in the Science Gallery, asks. The exhibition and lab will be open from 03 May until 23 June and the launch this week was a great event that gave an impression of another must-go exhibition in the Science Gallery.

Since the Science Gallery opened, I have been at every exhibition apart from one and I have never been disappointed. For that reason I always strongly recommend the Science Gallery events and again I suggest that you don’t miss this one!

All Star Wars fans are expected to come to Hamley’s in Dundrum and … invade the shop. The May The 4th (“May the 4th/force be with you” in case you need a little help to get your head around this “insider” joke) event takes place in aid of Autism Ireland in the shop this year. Last year a huge event was orchestrated in the City West Event Centre, this year it is all on a MUCH smaller scale, it seems.

Nevertheless, fans can meet their favourite Star Wars characters on Sat and can take part in a Light Saber workshops where young Jedis can learn how to master the weapon of choice for Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Emerald Garrison, Ireland’s biggest Star Wars costume club, will run that programme of events and will kit out all the Star Wars characters. www.facebook.com/pages/Hamleys-Dublin/153606896726

The yearly Bray Jazz Festival will take place this weekend for the 14th time and thereare lots of events in pubs and venues in Bray. Most top events are not free, but there are some free concerts in the main programme and in addition there are many free gigs and in the pubs of Bray in the evenings (the Molson Canadian Jazz Trail).

The upcoming free events over this weekend are:

– Fri 03 May: (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sat 04 May (13:00-18:00 – Bray Civic Plaza): Hopa! – Balkan style Jazz, featuring She’Koyokh (UK/Turkey/Serbia/Greece), Paprika (UK/Hungary/Serbia), Yurodny (Ireland), North Strand Kontra Band (Ireland)
+ Sat 04 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sun 05 May: (13:30-15:00 – The Well, Main Street, Bray): Brass Jaw – Bray Jazz Workshop
“Demystifying Jazz”
+ Sun 05 May (14:00-17:00 – Royal Hotel): Jazz Showcase with Phisqa, Butter, The Multiverse
+ Sun 05 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail

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 on three days every week in May.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
04+11+18+25 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-10/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
01+06+15+20+29 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-26/
08+13+22-27 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-25/

“Feck Off Crows” by Thomas Quain is a Play-Reading in the New Theatre. The New Theatre have a free Play-Reading on the first Sunday of each month. – ‘Feck Off Crows’ follows the fortunes of two Nuns who discover crows in their back garden during the War Of Independence. And it contains elements of macabre humor and tragedy of warfare.
Admission is free but a suggested donation of EUR 2 will be appreciated.

The family workshop “A Day at the Races” with Sarah Edmondson will take place in the National Gallery. Admission is free.

Outdoor Movies in the Park at the People’s Park in Dun Laoghaire takes place again on Sat 04 and Sun 05 May. The screenings of three movies on Sat and three on Sun are free and you are invited to bring picnics and blankets for a great family day out. The schedule of screenings is:

Saturday:
15:00 Brave PG 120 mins
17:30 ET PG 115 mins
20:00 Argo 15A 120 mins

Sunday:
14:30 The Lion King G 90 mins
18:00 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 12A 103 mins
20:00 Skyfall 12A 143 mins

The Comic Launch of “Courageous Mayhem” takes place on Sat and the organisers explain:

“National Tragedy, the small press comics cabal that brought you Romantic Mayhem, turn their attentions to Boy’s Own adventure with their new offering Courageous Mayhem.

Featuring creators: John Robbins, Antonio Carty, Deirdre de Barra, Alan Nolan, Elida Maiques, Cathal Duggan, Gar Shanley, Ronan Kennedy, Papa Hotel, Ian Pettitt, Philip Barrett, Paddy Lynch, Emma Rowe, Paddy Brown, Andy Luke, Tommie Kelly, Daniel Pongo, Kristen Ware and Archimedes Templar.”

Admission is free.

Tallaght band “The Stoney Brokes” are in Whelan’s for a gig int he “Live from the Window” slot. Admission 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 weekly Saturday night jazz event 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.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are listed on the website below.

Sat 04 May: The Cut Backs
Sun 05 May: Paul Magee Classic, Tow the Line, Donal Kirk

Phizzfest, the Phibsborough Arts Festival, is a community festival in that part of Dublin’s Northside, that entertains locals and everybody else for the last three years with a huge variety of events. Until last year it took place in September and was a week long festival. This year, for the first time, it will take place in May just for one weekend and then there will be other stand-alone events during the year.

The programme (in PDF) is here www.phizzfest.ie/2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Phizzfest_2013_Pprogramme.pdf

There will be many free events and other events are not free, just check out the programme to find out the details. Here are some free Sunday events (find out more details in the Phizzfest programme or on the website):

+ Crimes of the State talk with novelists Ed O’Loughlin and Kevin McCarthy (17:00)
+ Phizzfest Pop-up Museum (13:00-16:00)
+ Coracle Boat Parade and Launch (13:00)
+ Guns and Hoses – Talk about the early years of the fire service and Dublin Fire Brigade (14:00)
+ Drawing in public (14:00-17:00)
+ The Lives of Emmet Dalton – Talk (15:00)
+ One Box Record Fair (15:00)
+ Phisborough Community Choir Concert (16:00)

Many events at the festival are free and some require booking, so check out the full programme even ahead of the weekend in case you need to book an event that you would like to attend.

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 Long Mile Road Market behind Wigoders on Long MIle Road (across the road from Aldi) hosts more than 50 stalls and there is also a Cafe on site.

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 Children’s Art Cart Workshops will be held again in the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre (01-6770095) every Sunday from 24 March to 22 December 2013. Currently the workshop is still free, but there is a possibility that a fee will be introduced at some point. Children must be over 6 years of age and must be supervised by an adult.
You can’t pre-book, so early arrival is required because there are only 20 places per session.

The themes are:
24 March: Medieval Life – Includes a visit to Ashtown Castle
31 March: Make a Wallet ( Bring along empty clean cartons)
07 April: Creepy Crawlies in the Park
14 April: Animal Masks
21 April: What would we do without them
28 April: Make a surprise.

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 next Pure Vintage Fair will take place this week and it is what it says on the tin. A market/flea market for vintage items, which will take place on the first Sunday of every month. There will be vintage clothes, furniture, collectibles, jewellery and many more vintage items. Sounds interesting and with 30 stalls, it is well worth a visit. There will also be food, hot drinks and a DJ.

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) 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 on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

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.

The Crafty Craft Fair will take place on Sunday in Blanchardstown. I came across it only by coincidence but it sounds interesting. In the past this market had free admission and I assume it is the same again, but wasn’t able to find confirmation of this.

The organisers seem to have their emphasis more on selling tables to traders than on informing their customers about relevant stuff: You can find a Facebook event notice that tells you that the market on Sunday is “Sold out”, but you will not be able to find any information about an admission charge or free admission. Seems blind sided!

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

We find it tricky to evaluate risk and chance! Do you still smoke despite the risk? And do you play lotto despite the tiny chance of winning? Why does the house always win? Is it better to do business with a bookie or a banker? How do emotions, scenarios, or media skew our assessment of the odds? And is it possible to recalibrate our perceptions of risk?

These are just some of the questions that Risk Lab, the latest experiment-based ‘Lab InThe Gallery’ show in the Science Gallery, asks. The exhibition and lab will be open from 03 May until 23 June and the launch this week was a great event that gave an impression of another must-go exhibition in the Science Gallery.

Since the Science Gallery opened, I have been at every exhibition apart from one and I have never been disappointed. For that reason I always strongly recommend the Science Gallery events and again I suggest that you don’t miss this one!

The Sundays at Noon Concert Series continues 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 Sarah Buechi (voice), Izumi Kimura (piano) and Ronan Guilfoyle (bass) play the music of Bela Bartok, Thelonious Monk and Ronan Guilfoyle.

The Latvian Culture Day will take place on Sunday. The event will bring together Latvian choirs and dance groups from Ireland, Latvia, England, Germany and Switzerland and it will start with a parade at 12:30, followed by an open-air concert of song and dance. There will also be a market and the usual face painting for children. The event will take place in East Essex Street and not as usual for similar events on Meeting House Square. Admission will be free and everybody is welcome.

The yearly Bray Jazz Festival will take place this weekend for the 14th time and thereare lots of events in pubs and venues in Bray. Most top events are not free, but there are some free concerts in the main programme and in addition there are many free gigs and in the pubs of Bray in the evenings (the Molson Canadian Jazz Trail).

The upcoming free events over this weekend are:

– Fri 03 May: (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sat 04 May (13:00-18:00 – Bray Civic Plaza): Hopa! – Balkan style Jazz, featuring She’Koyokh (UK/Turkey/Serbia/Greece), Paprika (UK/Hungary/Serbia), Yurodny (Ireland), North Strand Kontra Band (Ireland)
+ Sat 04 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail
+ Sun 05 May: (13:30-15:00 – The Well, Main Street, Bray): Brass Jaw – Bray Jazz Workshop
“Demystifying Jazz”
+ Sun 05 May (14:00-17:00 – Royal Hotel): Jazz Showcase with Phisqa, Butter, The Multiverse
+ Sun 05 May (21:00-00:00 – various locations): Molson Canadian Jazz Trail

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

The guided walk “Blossoms form the Orient” will take place on Sunday.

Many of our common garden plants are Chinese in origin. May is the best time of the year to see Peonies, the Handkerchief Tree, Wisteria and many others in full bloom. Come and see the Chinese plants at their best in the Botanic Gardens.

Admission is free.

The public lecture “Breaking DORIC Down Sean Scully” by lecturer Dr. Kelly Grosvier will take place in the Hugh Lane Gallery and NO additional information about the topic is provided on the website. Admission is free, but with a cryptic title like that, I don’t think you have to worry about not getting a space…only people in the know will consider coming, I’d say. Let me help a little: “Doric” is an exhibition by abstract painter Sean Scully in the Hugh Lane Gallery and I would guess that the talk analyses the exhibition in some shape or form.

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 first “Sunday Sessions with Michael Scott and guests” will take place. It is an event that is part of the Dublin G ay Theatre Festival and has the the title “Life’s a Drag or Is it?”.

Veteran cross dressing entertainer Alan Ambsy (aka ‘Mr Pu ssy’) and Northern Ireland’s Drag Artiste, Chris Rowan, (aka ‘Bunny’) explore their lives as performance artists throughout the decades in Ireland. Theatre Director Michael Scott hosts this event.

This is a free event – no pre-booking necessary and all are welcome.

The next Sunday Sketching for 7+ Year olds has the title “Francis Bacon’s Studio”. No booking necessary. Admission is free and early arrival is recommended.

Saucy Sundays is a weekly free live music afternoon and evening in the Grand Social. The line-up and links to all bands/performers are available via the Saucy Sundays Facebook Page (see link below).

The line-up this Sunday is Rufus Coates & The Blackened Trees, Eric McGrath, Tickly Teeth, Clover Coast, Emer Brady, Moo, Hypergiants plus special guests.

It is not the Surviving James Joyce Kit that this event is about, instead it is the Bloomsday Survival Kit, but these two kits might not be too far from each other. :-) Well, the people that put together the Bloomsday Survival Kit are running lots of events and are ramping up their activities the closer we get to Bloomsday. This week they told me this:

“The Bloomsday Survival Kit team are romping around Dublin reading Ulysses by James Joyce in the places it was set. Join them on Sun 05 May in The Cat’s Meow at 74 Francis Street for a grotesque meander through the largest red light district in Europe in 1904.
You’ll experience the first half of Chapter 15 – surreal Circe. This chapter, written like a stage play, is a zany pantomime that follows the main characters Bloom and Stephen as they stagger through bizarre hallucinations based on their experiences during the day.
The roving reading group will reach its peak on Tuesday 11 June, Bloomsday Week, when they get “In Bed with Molly” to listen to her thoughts and feelings. Between now and then, they will be reading on Sun 12 May, Tues 14 May, Tues 21 May, Tues 28 May, Tues 04 June. Check out www.facebook.com/BloomsdaySurvivalKit or call 086 818 5537 for details.

The Trinity Bar, nect to the Cetntral Bank on Dame Street, has live music four nights/afternoons every week and admission is free:
Tues – 20:00: Theo Red (Alternative Rock)
Wed – 20:00: Tara Hill (Folk Rock, Celtic and Traditional)
Thurs – 20:00: Pachino Brothers (cover versions, oldies and own material)
Sun – 17:00: Traditional LIve Music

The wedding and party band The Long John Jump Band play every Sunday evening in Café en Seine. Admission is free.

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.

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 Sun+Mon. 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).

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 the Grand Social (new loation!) and if you are interested, just turn up one Sunday.

“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.

Billy Treacy & The Ha’Penny Heads are playing Ballads, Folk, Trad and Classic Country every Sunday. Featuring Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle and Banjo.

The weekly Sunday Roast is a free event in the Mercantile where live music is combined with free roast potatoes. The line-up for the upcoming Sunday Roast is available via the Sunday Roast Facebook Page (see link below).

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

The Living Room describes itself as a Centre for Silence and Contemplative Arts (and has nothing to do with the pub with the same name!). The Centre is open to all with a contemplative attitude coming from any spiritual tradition or background. There are lots of free events and also other workshops (check the website). The daily free events are taking place Mondays -Fridays
+ 08:00-08:45: Common Early Morning Meditation
+ 13:00-14:00 Lunchtime Guided Meditation (Mon: John Main, Tue: Carmelite Wisdom, Wed: Centering in Love, Thurs: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Fri: Insight Meditation for Beginners)
+ 15:00-15:30: Accompanied Silence (also Mon+Wed+Thurs from 11:00-11:30)

Phizzfest, the Phibsborough Arts Festival, is a community festival in that part of Dublin’s Northside, that entertains locals and everybody else for the last three years with a huge variety of events. Until last year it took place in September and was a week long festival. This year, for the first time, it will take place in May just for one weekend and then there will be other stand-alone events during the year.

The programme (in PDF) is here www.phizzfest.ie/2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Phizzfest_2013_Pprogramme.pdf

There will be many free events and other events are not free, just check out the programme to find out the details. Here are some free Monday events (find out more details in the Phizzfest programme or on the website):

+ Sean Heuston and the Easter Rising of 1916 – Talk (14:00)
+ Canal Walk (15:00)
+ Wrap it up with Trad – Gig (21:00)

Many events at the festival are free and a few require booking, so check out the full programme even ahead of the weekend in case you need to book an event that you would like to attend.

Another weekend, another 10 km run in Phoenix Park. It seems that there is a 10 km run nearly every week. This one is a fundraising event for ARC Cancer Support Centres. As always, particiaption in the 10 km run is not free, but watching the spectacle is.

Watch out for extensive road closures in Phoenix Park (Chesterfield Avenue will be closed from 08:00-13:00 and Chapelizod Gate, Knockmaroon Gate and Ashtown Gate will close from 09:00-13:00).

This is not the typical type of cultural event, but if your health is improved you enjoy life much more, so it certainly is an event that could be of tremendous benefit to some of you.

More than 470,000 adults and children in Ireland suffer from Asthma and in the week of World Asthma Day on 07 May, free Asthma Management Clinics will take place all over Dublin between 06-10 May. The Asthma Society of Ireland helps Dubliners to get their asthma under control. People attending the Asthma Clinic will have their asthma management reviewed and their inhaler technique checked. Asthma specialist nurses will answer questions and give expert advice during a confidential, one to one consultation. Topics covered will include asthma advice for children and adults, allergy avoidance and what to do during an asthma attack.

The mobile clinics (no reservation needed!) will be from 11:00-18:00 at
+ Barnardos Square, Dame Street Dublin 2 on 06 May
+ Wolfe Tone Square next to Jervis Street Shopping Centre on 07 May
+ Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (Green Car Park beside Boots) on 09 May
+ Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (Blue Entrance) on 10 May

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 IFI continues with its free “Archive at Lunchtime” screenings on three days every week in May.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
04+11+18+25 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-10/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
01+06+15+20+29 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-26/
08+13+22-27 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-25/

This regular open-mic literary event is held on the first Monday of every month and anyone can come along to read aloud one or more of your favourite pieces from literature at the event or you can even request that someone else reads your favourite piece, if you don’t want to. The literary pieces don’t have to be in English or in Irish. Recently an extract from Dante’s ‘Inferno’ was read in the original Italian and some piece from Lorca was first read in Spanish and then translated into English. Admission is free.

For further information contact Howard, who organises the event, on 085 2350530.

Outhouse will present a play reading of “The Lisbon Traviata” by Terrence McNally as part of the G ay Theater Festival. It is a free event but a donation would be welcomed and will go to Outhouse, the LGBT Community Resource Centre. The reading takes place in the theater venue at Outhouse in Capel Street. There are two Acts in this play and the first one is described as hilarious, the second is very serious.

The Monday Echo is a weekly songwriter and poetry live showcase held on Mondays in the basement of The International Bar. Usually, the show has 3 songwriters and 3 poets who perform for roughly 20 minutes each. Admission is free.
The weekly line-up can be found via the Facebook Page below.

Exchange Focus is a collective photography group. They act as a forum and meeting point for Dublin photographers to share techniques and collaborate on projects and they regularly exhibit their work and run free workshops in all aspects of photography. The group meets every second week on Monday nights and is open to everyone. All levels of experience are catered for.

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. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

The 4-piece band Loose Trad are performing every Monday in Mother Reilly’s. www.loosetrad.com/ Admission is free.

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.

The Living Room describes itself as a Centre for Silence and Contemplative Arts (and has nothing to do with the pub with the same name!). The Centre is open to all with a contemplative attitude coming from any spiritual tradition or background. There are lots of free events and also other workshops (check the website). The daily free events are taking place Mondays -Fridays
+ 08:00-08:45: Common Early Morning Meditation
+ 13:00-14:00 Lunchtime Guided Meditation (Mon: John Main, Tue: Carmelite Wisdom, Wed: Centering in Love, Thurs: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Fri: Insight Meditation for Beginners)
+ 15:00-15:30: Accompanied Silence (also Mon+Wed+Thurs from 11:00-11:30)

Author Debbie Thomas continues the promotional tour for her latest book “Jungle Tangle” and will read from the book in Hdges Figgis.

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 Music Library in the Central Library is inviting to a Lunchtime Recital with classical guitarists Francis Long & Thien Buggle. Admission is free.

This is not just a normal film screening:
“El crimen de una novia” (2006) will be presented by the films director Lola Guerrero, the actor Fernando Rodriguez and the producer Tomas Cimadevilla.

“The May session of City Intersections next Tuesday will look at FOOD. The “growing” phenomena of DIY food production, food markets, localism, communal gardens and allotments has “taken root” (doubling down) in Dublin over the past number of years, and we’re going to talk about why. Access to fresh, responsibly grown food is becoming an increasing priority for Irish people, and what seems at first a rural industry is becoming increasingly urban. Is something changing in the way we want to use city space and city resources? For years, our food model has been based on large-scale suburban supermarkets, a model where the rural farm (from anywhere in the world) provides, and the city consumes. Now, increasingly, city people are growing their own and buying from each other, and the session next Tuesday will look at what this might mean for Dublin and Dubliners.”

Speakers will be Samuel Bishop from Street Feast; Mary Corcoran, NUI Maynooth; Andrew Douglas of Dublin’s Urban Farm.

Admission is free and all are welcome.

At the next Alchemist Cafe, the topic is “Buff your brain: Boosting your cognitive reserve”.

Cognitive reserve is a theory that has been put forward to explain why certain individuals with full Alzheimers disease pathology can live normal lives while others with the same amount of plaques and tangles are totally debilitated by severe symptoms. A growing body of research indicates that lifetime experiences can influence whether we develop symptoms and stimulating activities can help build cognitive reserve. With May being the European Month of the Brain, the Alchemist Cafe have put together a panel in association with the NEIL Programme at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.

The panel for the evening will consist of Professor Brian Lawlor, Consultant Psychiatrist at St James Hospital and Professor of Old Age Psychiatry at TCD, Dr Sabina Brennan, a research psychologist specializing in cognitive ageing at TCIN and Yaakov Stern, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Columbia University New York and leading proponent of the theory of cognitive reserve.

Admission is free.

The Workmans Den Cinema Club will screen “Strictly Ballroom” on Tuesday and admission is free.

This is an open mic night with Special Guests. Arrive, sign in (from 19:00) and play and if you are a performer you get a free beer. Admission is free.

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 Trinity Bar, nect to the Cetntral Bank on Dame Street, has live music four nights/afternoons every week and admission is free:
Tues – 20:00: Theo Red (Alternative Rock)
Wed – 20:00: Tara Hill (Folk Rock, Celtic and Traditional)
Thurs – 20:00: Pachino Brothers (cover versions, oldies and own material)
Sun – 17:00: Traditional LIve Music

The weekly “Grand Folk Club” will feature Trad, Ballads, Americana, Folk, World Music & More. The line-up for Tuesday is not yet announced, but you will hopefully be able to find out on the website below soon. Admission is free.

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

The Living Room describes itself as a Centre for Silence and Contemplative Arts (and has nothing to do with the pub with the same name!). The Centre is open to all with a contemplative attitude coming from any spiritual tradition or background. There are lots of free events and also other workshops (check the website). The daily free events are taking place Mondays -Fridays
+ 08:00-08:45: Common Early Morning Meditation
+ 13:00-14:00 Lunchtime Guided Meditation (Mon: John Main, Tue: Carmelite Wisdom, Wed: Centering in Love, Thurs: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Fri: Insight Meditation for Beginners)
+ 15:00-15:30: Accompanied Silence (also Mon+Wed+Thurs from 11:00-11:30)

This is not the typical type of cultural event, but if your health is improved you enjoy life much more, so it certainly is an event that could be of tremendous benefit to some of you.

More than 470,000 adults and children in Ireland suffer from Asthma and in the week of World Asthma Day on 07 May, free Asthma Management Clinics will take place all over Dublin between 06-10 May. The Asthma Society of Ireland helps Dubliners to get their asthma under control. People attending the Asthma Clinic will have their asthma management reviewed and their inhaler technique checked. Asthma specialist nurses will answer questions and give expert advice during a confidential, one to one consultation. Topics covered will include asthma advice for children and adults, allergy avoidance and what to do during an asthma attack.

The mobile clinics (no reservation needed!) will be from 11:00-18:00 at
+ Barnardos Square, Dame Street Dublin 2 on 06 May
+ Wolfe Tone Square next to Jervis Street Shopping Centre on 07 May
+ Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (Green Car Park beside Boots) on 09 May
+ Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (Blue Entrance) on 10 May

Museum curator Jennifer Goff’s gallery tour will focus on the early years of Irish furniture designer and architect Eileen Gray at this tour for adults.

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 IFI continues with its free “Archive at Lunchtime” screenings on three days every week in May.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
04+11+18+25 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-10/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
01+06+15+20+29 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-26/
08+13+22-27 May: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-25/

This workshop ‘Funding Your Way to Success’ at the National College of Ireland is part of the Innovation Unplugged programme and the event will concentrate on funding for start-up and growth companies. The speakers are William McQuillan, from Frontline Ventures, who is an expert in venture capital and will advise you on what VC’s want and how to get them on-board. Clodagh Whelan will give an overview of funding opportunities through Enterprise Ireland. She will be followed by Maura Moore, who has extensive experience in the sector and is Portfolio Manager for AIB Business Bank who is investing in growth companies.

The presenters will take you through the process of funding, how to choose your VC and how to get their attention. Maura Moore will address the topic of follow on funding provided by AIB and the support provided during a company’s crucial stage of growth.

Admission is free, but spaces are limited an booking is required via the website below.

‘Disability and Diversity: Identity and Neoliberalism’ is a lecture by Prof Lennard Davis (Chicago) organised by the M.Sc. in Disability Studies in collaboration with the Centre for Deaf Studies and the School of English.

And this is what the organisers say:
“Normal” seems to be ending its tyrannical reign over bodies, particularly identities. Instead, it has been replaced by “diversity.” Yet the one area that “normal” reigns supreme is in the realm of disability. This lecture explores these issues and tries to account for this discrepancy by considering aspects of life under neoliberalism.

The website doesn’t say if the event is free or not, but similar talks in the past have always been free, so I would assume that it is free, but you might want to double-check.

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.

Do you track personal information, hoping to gain insights into yourself or your surrounding world? Are you curious about people who do? The Dublin Quantified Self group (#QSelfDublin) is for anyone interested in self-tracking. Whether you record your jogging times, how often you communicate with friends or how you are feeling – this group is for you. They meet regularly & light-heartedly to hear from people who are self-tracking, discuss other areas of self-tracking and even possibly for collaborations between members on self-tracking projects. Admission is free.

“My Home is Your Home – A Journey Round Syria” by Mary Russell is the unique account of Mary Russell’s extensive travels in Syria and the author will be in the library to discuss her travels and her book. Admission is free, but booking is required on 01-497 3539, or rathmineslibrary@dublincity.ie This event is part of the Bealtaine festival.

Interesting topic! As part of the European Month of the Brain, the NEIL Programme are hosting a public seminar entitled “Your brain: the secret to healthy ageing?”. The event will include presentations from Prof Sabina Brennan (NEIL), Prof Brian Lawlor (NEIL, St James Hospital), Prof Ian Robertson (NEIL) and Prof Yaakov Stern (Columbia University). The presentations will be followed by a Q & A session.

To register your interest in this event, email neilevents@tcd.ie

This event is open to everybody and admission is free, but registering is required. For more information, see www.tcd.ie/Neuroscience/neil/news/

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

The list of performers is not yet announced on their Facebook Page and I am not sure if it will be put up there, but check it anyway.

New Natives is a monthly showcase of Indie talent and this month, the line up is My Mind Races, Fiction Peaks & My Tribe Your Tribe. Admission is free.

The Trinity Bar, nect to the Cetntral Bank on Dame Street, has live music four nights/afternoons every week and admission is free:
Tues – 20:00: Theo Red (Alternative Rock)
Wed – 20:00: Tara Hill (Folk Rock, Celtic and Traditional)
Thurs – 20:00: Pachino Brothers (cover versions, oldies and own material)
Sun – 17:00: Traditional LIve Music

“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.

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 Living Room describes itself as a Centre for Silence and Contemplative Arts (and has nothing to do with the pub with the same name!). The Centre is open to all with a contemplative attitude coming from any spiritual tradition or background. There are lots of free events and also other workshops (check the website). The daily free events are taking place Mondays -Fridays
+ 08:00-08:45: Common Early Morning Meditation
+ 13:00-14:00 Lunchtime Guided Meditation (Mon: John Main, Tue: Carmelite Wisdom, Wed: Centering in Love, Thurs: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Fri: Insight Meditation for Beginners)
+ 15:00-15:30: Accompanied Silence (also Mon+Wed+Thurs from 11:00-11:30)

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) 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 on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The National Youth Council of Ireland will launch ‘Time to go? A Qualitative Research Study Exploring the Experience and Impact of Emigration on Ireland’s Youth’ in the Seminar Room. If you wish to attend, contact Geraldine Mahon/Rosie Boyle at the National Youth Council of Ireland: 01 478 4122 or info@nyci.ie

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 next event in the Central Library’s Career Direction and Development Programme is the workshop “Making Job Interviews work for you – A Dress Rehearsal” with Elizabeth Hutchenson from Slin Nua Careers. Admission is free, but booking is required: Contact the Business Information Centre at 01 8734333 or businesslibrary@dublincity.ie

A Let’s Talk & Walk event will take place in Sandymount and it is entitled “A Step above Buttermilk”.

When Sandymount started to develop as a seaside resort in the 18th and 19th centuries, its residents were determined to reserve their beach facilities and housing for more upwardly mobile classes than had been frequenting some of the other coastal resorts at the time. Delve into this area’s historic past with Pat Liddy.

Participation is free. Meet outside the Lansdowne Road DART Station.

CanTeen Ireland it is a nation-wide support group for young people who have or have had cancer – and for their brothers, sisters and friends. CanTeen is holding a fundraising event in Costa Coffee om Thursday with some of Ireland’s best up and coming artists performing. The line-up is Declan Greene, Kurtis Murphy, Dave O’Neill, Laura Ann Brady, Carly Cuna.

Admission is free and you can enjoy great music while having your coffee.

Euro-Paeans is a programme of short films from the Irish Film Institute’s collection exploring impressions of Ireland and Europe. The short films are:
Films of Les Frères Lumiére (3 mins)
Amharc Éireann (A view of Ireland) (6 minutes)
Irland und seine Kinder (Children of Eireann) (44 minutes)
Tribulations Irlandaises (Irish tribulations) (5 minutes)
The Saints went marching out (26 minutes)
Ireland’s Presidency of the EEC(10 minutes)
Min Irske Dagbog (My Irish Diary) (30 minutes)
The Polish School (11 minuites)

Admission is free.

Dundrum Town Centre (That’s the shopping centre for you and me. Silly naming!) is running a “Shop & Rock” event on Thursday. Between 18:00 and 23:00 there will be music and a few other happenings in the shopping centre. Gypsy Rebel Rabble will play outside, and in the centre The Camembert Quartet and Ember J will perform.

DATA showcases the work of artists who actively engaged in Internet culture. Their work revolves around technology, games, social networks, commerce and politics. DATA 56.0 will showcase emerging talent and provide a public platform for innovative projects happening across Art, Digital Media, Technology and Interactive Design. Eight current students or graduates from art/digital media related courses at Irish Universities will be given the opportunity to present their work for 10 minutes each at this showcase event.

Admission is free,

Seven towers (www.seventowers.ie), publishing house and events host are hosting their next Themed Thursday in the Workman’s Club every second Thursday. In this reading four writers/poets read on a specific theme for five to seven minutes. The full line-up can be found on the website below.

The Start Your Own Business Programme 2013, in association with Dublin City Enterprise Board, is a biannual (Spring & Autumn) series of 12 free lectures for you if you are contemplating self employment or have started recently and are in need of advice and expertise in all aspects of starting and/or developing a business in Ireland. This year the theme is Innovation for Business.

The lectures are:
18 April: An Introduction to Self Employment
25 April: Ideas Generation & Market Research
02 May: Financing your Business
09 May: Digital Marketing and Social Media
16 May: Ethnic Entrepreneurship
23 May: Business Planning Structure

More details are here www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/libraries/Events/Pages/syob_2013.aspx The training programme is free, but booking is required via 01-8733996 or businesslibrary@dublincity.ie

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.

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.

The Trinity Bar, nect to the Cetntral Bank on Dame Street, has live music four nights/afternoons every week and admission is free:
Tues – 20:00: Theo Red (Alternative Rock)
Wed – 20:00: Tara Hill (Folk Rock, Celtic and Traditional)
Thurs – 20:00: Pachino Brothers (cover versions, oldies and own material)
Sun – 17:00: Traditional LIve Music

Bad Boy Jake are every Thursday until the end of February in the newly re-opened Rathmines Inn, playing their rock, blues and Americana.

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.

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

Zebra with support from Le Carousel and Elaine Mai, will perform in Whelan’s. Admission is free before 22:30.

The Living Room describes itself as a Centre for Silence and Contemplative Arts (and has nothing to do with the pub with the same name!). The Centre is open to all with a contemplative attitude coming from any spiritual tradition or background. There are lots of free events and also other workshops (check the website). The daily free events are taking place Mondays -Fridays
+ 08:00-08:45: Common Early Morning Meditation
+ 13:00-14:00 Lunchtime Guided Meditation (Mon: John Main, Tue: Carmelite Wisdom, Wed: Centering in Love, Thurs: Tibetan Singing Bowls, Fri: Insight Meditation for Beginners)
+ 15:00-15:30: Accompanied Silence (also Mon+Wed+Thurs from 11:00-11:30)

This is not the typical type of cultural event, but if your health is improved you enjoy life much more, so it certainly is an event that could be of tremendous benefit to some of you.

More than 470,000 adults and children in Ireland suffer from Asthma and in the week of World Asthma Day on 07 May, free Asthma Management Clinics will take place all over Dublin between 06-10 May. The Asthma Society of Ireland helps Dubliners to get their asthma under control. People attending the Asthma Clinic will have their asthma management reviewed and their inhaler technique checked. Asthma specialist nurses will answer questions and give expert advice during a confidential, one to one consultation. Topics covered will include asthma advice for children and adults, allergy avoidance and what to do during an asthma attack.

The mobile clinics (no reservation needed!) will be from 11:00-18:00 at
+ Barnardos Square, Dame Street Dublin 2 on 06 May
+ Wolfe Tone Square next to Jervis Street Shopping Centre on 07 May
+ Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (Green Car Park beside Boots) on 09 May
+ Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (Blue Entrance) on 10 May

A Community Day at the Project Arts Centre is taking place. The Project Arts Centre will be opening their doors for two days of free events and performances so that you can check out the centre.

On Friday RTE’s Arts and Culture show “Arena” will be live broadcast from there. “New Triangle” and the “Crash Ensemble” will play music and there will be interviews with Roger Doyle from New Triangle, with he artistic director of the Project Arts Centre Cian O’Brien and with writer and director Peter Sheridan and also with writer Philip McMahon.

Admission is free, but places are limited and you will have to book tickets.

More free events are happening on Saturday and again you will need to book tickets, so you better chck the programme out on the website below.

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) 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 on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

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 Stokke Big Band from Norway will perform on the Bandstand in St. Stephen’s Green. This event is part of the Norish Fest from 10-12 May. Admission is free.

Norish Fest is a Norwegian-Irish initiative to create an annual event for cultural exchange, social networking and business networking between the two countries Norway and Ireland.

The Bealtaine Festival event “Treasures from the Bog” will take place. Suitable for adults, this is a screening of a documentary by Crossing the Lines Films, which traces the conservation and investigation of the Faddan More Psalter, an 8th century book of psalms discovered deep in a bog. Admission is free and no booking required.

The Indian Classical Music Society has organised a performance with Sougata Roy Chowdhury and Dobojyoti Sanyal in the Chester Beatty Library.

Sougata Roy Chowdhury on sarod and Dobojyoti Sanyal on tabla will perform North Indian classical music. The artists will demonstrate and explain various facets of North Indian classical music including the instrumentation, the concept of raga, the rhythmic structure of taal and the complex system of improvisation, along with insights into the philosophical side to the tradition.

Admission is free and booking is not required.

“In this talk Tim Stott (Lecturer in Art History and Theory, DIT) discusses how the work of Tino Sehgal constructs art objects from momentary events using little more than communications and the bodies of performers and audience. In doing so, Sehgal’s work seems to ask again Nelson Goodman’s question ‘when is art?’ and presents us with some compelling answers.”

Admission is free, but booking is required via the website.

The new Flea Friday, a Flea Market in the Dark Hose Inn on Fridays will start from 19 April. You will find clothes, jewellery, cake, records, art, etc at the market. Admission is free.

The Harold’s Cross Festival was in previous years, just a family fun day on the Sunday, but this year the Harold’s Cross Community has ramped up their activities and are inviting to events from Friday 10 May until Sunday 12 May. The events schedule for Sat and Sun is on the Facebook Page below, the Friday events don’t seem to be identified yet, so have a lookout for the Friday events during the week if you are interested.

It seems all events over the weekend are free and I will tell you more about this community festival next week.

The art event “Paintings from Sardinia to Dublinia” (see description in the EXHIBITIONS section), is ending with an event “Folk Dances and Muisc” in the Italian Institute of Culture. Giuseppe Basi will talk about Sardinia dances and music and the Irish Traditional Dance group “Caobh Chuallan” will perform Irish Dancing. There will also be Sardinian refreshements at the end of thie event.
Admission is free.

A free Greek and European Folk Dance class open to all. Contact Katerini Papathanasiou on papath.kat@gmail.com

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). This is a srop in class and newcomers are 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.

“Dublin Tribal Spirit” is a weekly event that gives you the great experience of a drumming circle with african drums and authentic tribal rhythms. Tom and Sinead, who run that event are providing lots of drums for it and teach you the rhythms.

There is no formal admission charge for this event, but donations are expected. The organisers bring their own 20-30 drums to it every week, so they are looking for donations to keep the event going.

The Addison Lodge are inviting local bands, musicians, poets, comedians and performers to share their talents at the new Addison Lodge Open Mic Nights in Glasnevin (opposite the Botanic Gardens). The event takes place every week. Admission is free.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below.

The Brady’s Sessions is a monthly singer/songwriter night in Gub Dandy’s at Brady’s Pub Terenure. Admission is free and this month’s Line-Up is:

Shauna Mackin
Joe Carroll
Finnian Kelleher
Karen Alice Dunbar
Caroline Reel
Sinead Dunne

The French Community is coming together again and also invites everyone who likes France and French. The next French Friday will take place on 10 May and the theme is “A night of Electro” with two DJs playing Electrofunk/House and Dubstep/Drum&Bass. Admission is free.