When it comes to planning your weekends in Ireland, you really are spoiled for choice. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Mastercard to bring you the ultimate event guide every weekend for the rest of the year. Your weekend starts here:
Dublin
Dublin Animation Film Festival 2017
Get ready for a Saturday full of popcorn and world class animated movies as part of the Dublin Animation Film Festival in Dun Laoghaire’s Pavilion Theatre.
Studio Ghibli's 'The Red Turtle' (which was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film for the 89th Academy Awards) will screen in the afternoon, followed by a Q & A with the film's co-writer and Director, Michael Dudok De Wit.
The festival will also showcase animated short films by Irish and international animators, followed by a ballot for the Audience Choice Award, while the closing event for the day will be the presentation of the 2017 DAFF awards.
In between the entertaining flicks you’ll have just enough time for a stroll along the pier and a Teddy’s Ice Cream cone.
Temple Bar Food Market is held every Saturday from 10am-4.30pm at Meeting House Square in the heart of Dublin city centre, and is a true foodie’s paradise.
With hot and cold options, as well grab-to-go bites and jars upon jars of various salsas, chutneys and jams, you’re sure to find something here to whet your appetite. Cured meats and cheeses take centre stage, with local producers offering samples of olives and homemade breads that are almost impossible to refuse.
There’s also an oyster stand if you’re feeling fancy, shucked right in front of your eyes and simply dressed with Tabasco sauce and lemon. Bonus: high-top canopies cover the market in poor weather, allowing you to browse without getting rained on.
Come celebrate activism and advocacy with human rights activists from around the world in this enlightening festival on Saturday in the Science Gallery.
There will be workshops and panels on LGBTI activism, the dangers of defending land rights, cybersecurity for activists, and ripping down the patriarchy.
Talks will be held given by LGBTI defenders and you will hear their inspiring stories from winning the case to decriminalise homosexuality in Belize; to standing up to the powerful oppressive regime in Morocco; and the everyday struggles in the life of the first officially recognised transgender woman in Pakistan.
Homemade ethnic food will also feature with a stall from Our Table (recipes from the pop-up kitchen run by volunteers in direct provision).
The House Of Peroni Presents: La Sagra!
Italy’s best kept foodie secret, a sagra is a traditional Italian festival that brings communities together to celebrate their local food produce, and now it’s coming to Dublin on Friday evening in Meeting House Square.
The House of Peroni will celebrate the Irish food producers creating authentic Italian food here in Ireland – everything from mozzarella cheese to artisan salumi, and visitors to the festival can meet the producers, hear their story and buy samples of their produce to take away.
A Sagra inspired ‘Cicchetti’ food menu featuring local Irish produce will be on sale, as well as a ticketed immersive dining experience will also take place, bringing the food producers together in a tailor-made Italian inspired, sagra style dinner, designed and presented by our chefs and local food producers.
The House of Peroni bar will serve Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Peroni-infused cocktails, with entry to the sagra free of charge with tickets for the special dinner available for €60. Yum.
Galway
You might not naturally equate Gaelic Football with a riveting musuem exhibition, but Galway City Museum’s display of GAA throughout the years is a must-see for any footie fan.
Still a dominant force in Irish sporting, cultural and social life, the GAA played an influential role in the Irish cultural renaissance of the late nineteenth century and in Ireland’s struggle to re-establish its own political, linguistic and cultural identity.
This exhibition features newspaper cuttings, visual media, and other sporting memorabilia to take you on the journey of GAA and its importance in Ireland from the very beginning in 1884 right up to the modern day sport as we know it.
Cork
Taste Cork Week takes place from the 16th - 22nd October 2017, celebrating Cork’s produce, history & flourishing food culture in this delicious festival.
Cork city will be transformed into a foodie haven, with over 40 venues participating and 30 events taking place as Cork restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs will be showcasing their creativity, and designing sensational menus and events as part of the ‘Taste Cork Experience’.
Weekend highlights include a seven-course Sri Lankan pop up restaurant, cheese tasting with Hegarty’s Cheese in the famous English Market, and a special Cork afternoon tea overlooking the River Lee, where you can enjoy some West Cork potter crab, spiced beef sliders, Rebel Chili chocolate truffles and much more while you sip away at a Kinsale Gin & Tonic.
Belfast
Belfast International Arts Festival
Covering theatre, dance, classical and roots music, visual, film and digital arts and literature, this festival in the heart of Belfast city runs until the 28th October.
Aiming to promote and celebrate the contemporary arts, the city will become a real hub of all things creative, with some truly excellent events and installations taking place throughout the festival.
What to see this weekend? We recommend Dancing At The Disco At The End Of The World; an interactive theatre experience that’s part Lord of the Flies, part Animal Farm held in an abandoned warehouse, and Gardens Speak; an interactive sound installation containing the oral histories of ten ordinary people who were buried in Syrian gardens.
Fashion & Freedom, an ambitious exhibition that looks at the legacy of World War 1 in changing women’s fashion as they took on new responsibilities and roles in the workforce, is also well worth a visit.
This event guide was brought to you with thanks to Mastercard®. Register on Priceless.com today to discover exclusive experiences and get privileged access to sporting events, shopping, dining and travel.
