Dublin Festival Season 2011

The season of non-stop festivities is descending on the capital. Come to Dublin almost anytime in September or October and you can't miss it.

Attending a festival? Stay at the Stillorgan Park Hotel and avail of our FREE courtesy bus service to local areas and Dublin City Centre!­

The Main Events:

Dublin Contemporary: 6 Sept-31 Oct, www.dublincontemporary.com
Visual Arts. Large scale art installations and gallery exhibitions bring high end art to the capital. The first running of this major event which is envisaged to run every five years from 2011.
Absolut Fringe: 10-25 September, www.fringefest.com
Theatre, Street Theatre and Music. The Fringe Festival takes over more than 40 venues and celebrates the new and the next.
Arthur’s Day: 22 September, www.guinness.com/en-row/arthurs-day
Music and craic. Big concerts and intimate gigs all over the city, along with a couple of pints of the black stuff.
Dublin Culture Night: 23 September, www.culturenight.ie,
A night of discovery as galleries, museums and cultural venues open their doors for free.
Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival: 29 September – 16 October, www.dublintheatrefestival.com
Dublin loves Drama! An amazing array of Irish and International theatre productions.
Open House: 6-9 October, www.architecturefoundation.ie/openhouse
Buildings of all types open their doors allowing all to explore the city’s architecture for free with guided tours and talks by architects and enthusiasts.
Mountains to Sea Book Festival (1-11th September) www.mountainstosea.ie
Dublin Festival of Fashion, September 8th to 11th www.dff.ie
Oktoberfest (beer festival), September 22nd to October 9th
Hard Working Class Heroes (Indie Music Festival), 6-8th October 2011 www.hwch.net

Some interesting facts and figures about the festivals:

-Over 90 contemporary visual artists, installation artists and sculptors from 5 continents exhibiting in venues all over Dublin for 8 weeks (Dublin Contemporary).
-156 cultural venues opening late into the night and welcoming around 152,000 free visits before the night is done (Culture Night).
-Your only chance to peek inside over 100 buildings cool and classic, modern and medieval opening their doors for free tours, talks and debates by architects, architecture enthusiasts and craftspeople (Open House Dublin).
-16 days and over 100 shows of cutting edge theatre, comedy, music and spectacle (ABSOLUT Fringe).
-553 performances of the very best theatre from Ireland and around the world (Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival).
-Readings by Michael Ondaatje, Emma Donoghue, Sebastian Barry, Edna O’Brien, Val McDermid, Melvyn Bragg as well as debates, tours and workshops (Mountains to Sea Book Festival in Dun Laoghaire).
-100 gigs in 3 days at six venues where Irelands brightest young indie musical talent show their stuff (Hard Working Class Heroes).
-Throw in Guinness’ glorious Arthur’s Day, a fabulous Fashion Festival and 18 days and nights of Bavarian Beer fun at Oktoberfest.