• NI Science Festival

    Running from February 19 to March 1,  the first ever NI Science Festival will pique curiousity and imagine in everything from music venues and coffee shops to cinemas and museums. During the day the festival will present a whole host of workshops, talks and interactive activities for young people, parents and schools. In the evening the festival will come alive with an eclectic mix of scientific debates, talks, theatre, comedy, music and film for adults. Go here to check out the full festival programme,

  • Festivals: Quarter Block Party

    Cork’s varied and vital cultural communities have always been a pillar of life in the city, but the past year or so has seen exponential growth, despite setbacks. Next year looks set to be a cracker, with a bumper crop of albums and EPs in the pipeline for release, and the announcement of  the Quarter Block Party festival, taking over the venues and businesses of North and South Main Street for a weekend, from February 6th to the 8th. Run as a collaboration between The Makeshift Ensemble (the force of nature behind the Quarter arts all-dayers at the Triskel) and…

  • Outburst Queer Arts Festival 2014

    Taking place from November 14 to November 22, the eighth annual Outburst Queer Arts Festival will return with eight days and nights of world class and new local, theatre, performance, film, visual art and discussion, celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender creativity in venues across the city of Belfast. From neo-cabaret duo Bourgeois & Maurice (pictured) and a screening of 52 Tuesdays to David Hoyle’s Queer History Tour and Gayllifrey: a queer celebration of Doctor Who, the festival traverses each and every creative medium to deliver a festival “sharing and exploring LGBT experiences and bringing exciting, entertaining and challenging new work to…

  • Castlepalooza 2014

    A highly-anticipated annual fixture at the breathtaking Charleville Castle in Tullamore, Castlepalooza 2014 will take place across the weekend of August 1-3. Super Furry Animals’ main man Gruff Rhys, indie-pop duo Summer Camp and Franco-Swiss DJ Gilles Peterson top the bill this year, with several Irish acts including TVVINS, Hurdles, We Cut Corners, The Clameens, Affleck and Ships also featuring in this year’s line-up. Buy tickets and check out full line-up for the festival – taking place across August 1, 2 and 3 – over at Castlepalooza’s official website and check out a live version of ‘Book’ by TVVINS below.

  • Forfey Festival

    Taking place across the weekend of August 1-3, the wonderfully intimate and unaffected Forfey Festival returns to Forfey Farm near Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh with one of its strongest line-ups to date. As ever, homegrown folk and acoustic acts make up the majority of this year’s line-up, but there is also a wide range of electronic and rock artists – everyone from Hornets to Affleck – performing across the festival’s three days. With more acts still to be announced, the current line-up is: Callum Stewart, Beulah Kim, Wonder Villains, Travis Is A Tourist, The Emerald Armada, Skeletons, Rupture Dogs, RAMS’ Pocket Radio, More Than…

  • Happy Days Festival 2014

    Dedicated to the life and work of Nobel-prize winning Irish writer Samuel Beckett, Happy Days Festival returns to Enniskillen from July 31 to August 10. World-renown as one of the finest and boldest alternative festivals around, Happy Days – named after the 1961 Beckett play of the same name – will see varied theatre productions, visual art, concerts, writers and artists talks, special events and everything in between take place across Enniskillen over the eleven days. Make sure to check out the full brochure for the festival – including venues and ticket prices – here. Watch a clip of Billie Whitelaw in a performance…

  • Celtronic 2014

    Ireland’s premier electronic musical festival, Celtronic will return to Derry for its fourteenth year from Wednesday, June 25. Running to Sunday June 29, some of the finest producers and DJs in dance and electronic music including Ben UFO, Derrick Carter, Karenn Feat Blawan and Pariah, Magic Mountain High, Pearson Sound and Space Dimension Controller will perform in various venues such as Sandinos, The Nerve Centre and Masons across the city over five days. Check out the full line-up for the festival and buy tickets here. Watch a fifty minute Boiler Room set from Ben UFO below.  

  • Wacken Open Air Festival 2014

    Wacken Open Air 2014 will take place in Wacken, Germany on Thursday 31 July to Saturday, August 2 2014. Emperor, King Diamond and Amon Amarth (above) are amongst the bands that will perform at the annual German festival. Check out the full line-up below: A Pale Horse Named Death, Amon Amarth, Apocalyptica, Arch Enemy, August Burns Red, Avantasia, Behemoth, Bembers, Blechblosn, Bring Me The Horizon, Bülent Ceylan, C.O.P. UK, Carcass, Children Of Bodom, Chthonic, Crematory, Decapitated, Degradead, Der W.,Devin Townsend Project, Dunkelschön, Emperor, Endstille, Excrementory Grindfuckers,Firkin, Five Finger Death Punch, Fleshgod Apocalypse, For The Imperium, Godsized,HammerFall, Hatebreed, Heaven Shall Burn, Hellyeah, Iced Earth, Ics Vortex,…

  • With Full Force Festival 2014

    It’s only a few days left until With Full Force festival, celebrating its 21st year, will take place at the Roitschjora airfield in Löbnitz near Leipzig, Germany. After a massive twentieth birthday bash last year, one of the loudest and hardest music festivals in Germany brings the very best of metal, punk and hardcore to your ears once more. From June 4 to June 6 2014 you can mosh to your favorite bands on two stages, get wasted on the camping site, spend your hard earned cash on t-shirts, posters, memorabilia and great food, or just kick back and soak up the…

  • Electric Picnic 2014

    Hands down the country’s premier boutique music, culture and arts festival, Electric Picnic, will return this summer, headlined by trip-hop legends Portishead, rejuvenated U.S. hip-hop duo Outkast and Beck. Taking place at Stradbally Estate, Co. Laois from Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31, the likes of Chic, Mogwai, Slowdive, St. Vincent and Blondie have also been confirmed to play the annual festival, which celebrates its eleventh anniversary this year. Beginning as a one-day event in 2004, Electric Picnic expanded to a weekend-long festival within a year. Tickets for the festival are now available – starting from 90.00 for a Sunday day ticket – are available via the…