Dublin Festival Fever

Have been on hols, so have had a blog and tweet break.  Want to say thanks to all who have been so encouraging about this Dublin Munchkins lark.  Really glad you are finding it useful. 

So what to post about today...well how can I ignore the fantastic line up of Festivals that will awash our Dublin shores over the next two months during the Dublin Festival Season.

It all starts off with the Mountains to Sea Book Festival in Dun Laoghaire from 3rd-8th September.  The Schools and Family programme looks interesting with some of the biggest names in children's books participating in author led events.  From the Tuesday to Thursday there are lots of school events but on the Saturday and Sunday there are workshops etc to get your young un's creative juices flowing, such as T-shirt design, cup cake baking, creative writing workshops, monster family doodle and a family trail in People's Park.

Then there is the Dublin Fashion Festival from the 5th-8th September.  For your young fashionistas, there are a number of free fashion events that they might like such as fashion shows, a beauty bus, pop up shops, stylathons, modelling try outs, meet the designers, style workshops, kids dress up box etc.

Then there is the Dublin Fringe Festival running from the 5th-22nd September.  It is Ireland's largest multi-disciplinary arts festival which showcases new Irish and international arts.  It is a bit difficult to decipher what is appropriate for kids, but they might like the Brat Kids Carnival (recommended for kids 4 +), Tumble Circus Damn the Circus (recommended for kids aged 10 +) and the Macnas Chaosmos. 

Then there is Culture Night on the 20th September, when Dublin's museums, galleries, churches, historic houses, cultural centres and more will open their doors late for a free night of entertainment, discovery and adventure.  Have a look at the events on the Family Culture Trail, which features events in Croke Park, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, IMMA, James Joyce Centre, National Gallery of Ireland, the three National Museums, National Print Museum, TCD Old Library and Books of Kells and TCD's Zoological Museum.   

Soon after is the Dublin Theatre Festival running from 26th September to 13th October.  There are a five events specifically aimed at families as part of the Family Season.   

Open House Dublin is a celebration of architecture in Ireland and takes place from 4th to 6th October.  Over one weekend, almost 100 buildings of all types and periods will open their doors to allow the general public to snoop and explore the architecture of Dublin - all completely free. 

Another one of interest will be the Bram Stoker Festival, running from 26th to 28th October, which has events aimed at kids, families and teens such as storytelling, talks and writing workshops.

Down the road in Enniskerry, the Enniskerry Victorian Field Day will happen on Sunday 15th September at Knocklinn Farm.  Entertainment includes music, a dog show, classic cars and tractors, artisan market, kids tent and more.  

There is also the 10th Skerries Soundwaves Festival from the 20-29th September, which promises to have entertaining children's and teenager's events.