• Preview: Atlantic Sessions 2017

    October 23, 2017 - By 

    Atlantic Sessions returns across November 16-19 with over 60 acts performing in Portstewart, Portrush  and Portballintrae. If 2016 is anything to go by this will be a glorious return. Flogging a festival is hard work, ask anyone daft enough to think they can get away with it. There is a collection of calamities for every Castlepalooza, a box of bankruptcies for every Belsonic and many a chain-smoking, sweary booker languishing in a post-summer lull promising to never, ever, do it again. Let’s face it: there is no shortage of the things as any regular reader of The Thin Air probably knows. Given…

  • I.NY Festival 2017

    October 4, 2017 - By 

    We have no shortage of boundlessly inviting festivals right on our doorstep, but some go that little bit further by excavating the long-standing cultural trends and bonds that ensure Ireland’s creative standing on the world stage remains unique. A festival that celebrates “the relationship between Ireland and New York, one story at a time” I.NY is a perfect case in point. Set to take place at a number of venues in Limerick City across October 5-15, this year’s outing will delve into and highlight the strong ties between the NYC and Ireland, inviting a range of creatives – artists, writers, musicians, educators, entrepreneurs and more…

  • Dublin Art Book Fair: Art and Architecture – Interwoven

    October 4, 2017 - By 

    With its themes of art and architecture, this year’s Henry J Lyons-sponsored Dublin Art Book Fair will take place at Dublin’s Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, with other events at the Irish Architecture Foundation, Tenement Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland, across November 23-26. Bridging the distinct realms of art and architecture in order to engage diverse audiences, a curated programme of talks, tours, workshops, an artist commission and a film screening will traverse contemporary art, architecture, books, design, film, the city and its material histories. Launched at 6pm on Thursday, November 23, highlights of this year’s fair include a…

  • Dublin Feminist Film Festival 2017

    September 11, 2017 - By 

    Returning for its fourth outing, Dublin Feminist Film Festival is a volunteer-run, non-profit event that will take over The New Theatre in Dubin’s Temple Bar across November 16-18. With its central aim of helping counteract the mis/under-representation of women in film, the theme for this year’s festival is “FeministFutures”. Organisers said, “Our programme this year will foreground topics such as: science, the avant-garde, technology and the digital world, contemporary feminist issues and movements, sci-fi, occult, modernity, dystopia, utopia, the future female, aspirations, visionary a/v, globalisation. This blurb is purposefully broad, and not exhaustive. But we have given ourselves the challenge…

  • Dublin Podcast Festival 2017

    August 2, 2017 - By 

    Presented by HeadStuff and Aiken Promotions, the inaugural Dublin Podcast Festival will bring 10 nights of live podcasts, headliner shows, comedy showcases, discussions and workshops taking place in various citys throughout the city across September 19-29. Featuring a diverse range of international and homegrown podcasters, Criminal, The Memory Palace, Fascinated, My Dad Wrote a Porno, Featuring a diverse range of international and homegrown podcasters covering everything from music, food and literature to comedy, film and crime, Criminal, The Memory Palace, Fascinated, My Dad Wrote a Porno, Scroobius Pip’s Distraction Pieces, Roddy Doyle and No Encore featuring Daithí, Overhead The Albatross and…

  • Townlands Carnival 2017

    July 17, 2017 - By 

    Following a stellar outing last year, one of Cork’s very finest summer festival propositions, Townlands Carnival, returns across to Leades House in Macroom across the weekend of July 21-23. Amongst the nicely varied bill of acts playing this year are Rubberbandits (pictured), bona fide Irish festival heroes King Kong Company, Cork’s Ellen King ELLLL, Dublin electronic indie act Le Boom, Om Unit, Hermitage Green, Stomptown Brass, Hvmmingbird, Shookrah and My Fellow Sponges. And taking in a whole host of cross-genre artistry and performance over the three days, this year’s line-up is brilliantly bolstered by spoken word, art trail and installations, a craft village, a children’s play ahead,…

  • Twin Freaks Festival

    June 28, 2017 - By 

    Unless you’ve been living under a considerably large rock recently, you will know that Twin Peaks has returned and has comfortably re-asserted itself as quintessential (and brilliantly batshit) water-cooler conversation TV. With the North having its own celebration via last month’s Belfast Twin Peaks Fest, the stunning Ballyhook Hill in Grangecon, Co. Wicklow will play host to Twin Freaks Festival on August 12. The one-day Lynchian inspired event will be a celebration of music, art, film and performance, and will feature contributions from Katie Kim, Paddy Kelleher, Cobra Truth, Brian Conniffee and more. Fancy dress encouraged and rewarded. Limited earlybird tickets are priced…

  • Women’s Work 2017

    April 15, 2017 - By 

    With its inaugural outing last year proving a resounding success, Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre will host this year’s Women’s Work Festival across May 24-29. A unique festival for the city celebrating women in music, the purpose of Women’s Work is to raise the visibility of women who are generally in the minority in music, by hosting a range of activities that are open to all genders and include showcases, gigs, special events, panels, talks, and exhibitions. This year’s programme includes over 50 acts, creatives and DJs across 6 dedicated days, with additional content across the whole month of May. Up to 30…

  • Twin Peaks Fest Belfast

    April 11, 2017 - By 

    To mark the show’s monumentally-anticipated return after 25 years next month, Twin Peaks Fest Belfast will take place at The National across May 20-21. Promising screenings, fancy dress, Miss Twin Peaks Pageant, a Lynchian music night, prizes and more to be announced, tickets for the festival can snapped here for such £11.00 including booking fee. Damn fine, etc. As is this poster for the festival courtesy of Belfast’s Kubrix Design.

  • Distorted Perspectives 2017

    April 6, 2017 - By 

    Right up there with our favourite small Irish festivals, Distorted Perspectives – easily the country’s leading bastion of contemporary sound, psych and avant-garde art – will return to Letterkenny’s Regional Culture Centre across April 28-29. Now entering its fourth year, it will host Will Carruthers (Spacemen 3/Spiritualized), K-X-P, Hannah Peel (pictured), exmagician, Robocobra Quartet, SlowPlaceLikeHome, Tuath, Scenery, The Gatefolds, Aul Boy, The Barbiturates and Free Acid Sunshine across the two days. As well as said sonic feast, there will be a host of DJ sets from the likes of Turn It On, Chromaticism and Art for Blind records, as well as free screen-printing workshops courtesy of…