Ireland shows off its cultural hand with host of free events

Among the highlights will be an open-air show featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and special guests including The Strypes, Áine Cahill, Mongoose, Dáithí with Sinead White, Stephen James Smith, Felispeaks, San Patricio Mariachi, Liam O’Connor, and Matthew Gilsenan. The concert is unticketed and admission will be on a first come, first served basis.

Those traversing the capital to see the sights on Culture Night can avail of complimentary buses provided by Dublin Bus. Free buses will depart every 20 minutes along routes starting on Bachelor’s Walk, Pearse St, Aston Quay, and Eden Quay.

People Before Profit will combine culture with protest at a Save the Iveagh Markets cultural event. Singer-songwriter Katie Laffan will perform for the Irish Music Rights Organisation, Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits will read from his new book, The Gospel According to Blindboy, in Temple Bar’s Gutter Bookshop, and in The Lilliput Press, actor Tom Hickey reads from a piece of his favourite literature.

In Cork, the City Hall Concert Hall has a booked-out screening of Maze, the new film starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor inspired by the true events of the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners from HMP Maze. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Stephen Burke and actor Barry Ward.

Earlier that day, at 5.15pm, the cast of the War of the Buttons will reunite 24 years on from the release of the family favourite, while the Gate Cinema will be screening the The Young Offenders at 6.30pm.

Trish Murphy, events manager at Cork City Council, said the atmosphere will be second to none. “Yet again we are hitting the high notes with all of our film and musical offerings for Cork Culture Night,” she said.

“We are so excited to have the cast and crew of Maze actually in attendance for a Q&A at the end of their screening, as well as the cast of War of the Buttons for their reunion. As for the musical line-up, the city is going to be abuzz from noon to midnight like nothing we have ever seen before.”

City Hall is offering more than film tomorrow night, and at Millennium Hall SoundOUT, School of the Divine Child, Music Mash-Up, and the Mahon Community Concert Band, in partnership with Music Generation Cork City, will bring some sounds from 12pm to 1.30pm.

The National Sculpture Factory, Albert Rd, will launch its new .art website which it describes as “a new public portal that unpacks the history of the NSF since its inception in a playful and interactive way”.

Activities will be held on the floor in recognition of this launch and visitors will have the opportunity to visit its facilities and artists’ studios from 4pm to 8pm.

Back at City Hall, the Atrium will host Visit Transplanting China in Ireland: An exhibition of paintings of Chinese plants from Birr Castle. Co Offaly, created by the visiting Chinese Artists Programme 2013-15.

From 6.30pm to 7pm, there will be a talk on Transplanting China in Ireland, by director of cultural projects at University College Cork. Virginia Teehan, and from 7pm, Yongbin Xia, director of the Confucius Institute at UCC, and colleagueswill discuss Chinese painting styles.

An Open Door exhibition, will also be held at Mayfield Arts Centre, Newbury House, on the Old Youghal Rd from 5pm to 6.30pm showcasing art from participants of its many community programmes in 2017.

Visitors will have the chance to see the Cúig artists’ studios and find out what projects the artists are working on and join in fun, interactive creative workshops in their studio.

In Kerry, the Tralee International Resource Centre will give the public an opportunity to try their hands at African drumming from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

In Kerry County Museum, ceramicist Lone Beiter-O’Reilly will explore how ancient pottery was made based on finds from the Killaclohane Portal Tomb and allow participants to make their own authentic pot from 6pm to 9.30pm.

In Limerick fans of the classic book can take in the Angela’s Ashes Experience at the Frank McCourt Museum from 5pm to 9pm, which offers storytelling, guided tours of the museum, and video.

The Hunt Museum will host a University Concert Hall and Olive Cowpar presentation of two evening opera recitals featuring some of Limerick’s most talented singers, performing arias and duets.

A celebration of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is one of the many events on in Galway, where the city library is promising a free event for all ages that includes magic potions shows by Junior Einsteins, fancy dress judged by NUIG Harry Potter Society, and Potter trivia.