• The Beatyard 2016

    July 29, 2016 - By 

    Featuring everyone from Parliament/Funkadelic legend George Clinton, Roy Ayers and Jape to Lee Scratch Perry, Rubberbandits and Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, The Beatyard will make a no doubt victorious return to Dublin’s Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Saturday July 30 and Sunday July 31. With tickets available to buy here, the August Bank Holiday weekender festival – presented by Beck’s – will also include The Eatyard (including Brewtonic Carinvale, Bread & Bones and The Big Blue Bus), Studioyard featuring The Bernard Shaw Flea, ADW Art, Tasty Threads and more, as well as Kidsyard, promising “imaginosity” (we like the sound of that…

  • Down With Jazz

    May 24, 2016 - By 

    Returning for their 5th edition, Down With Jazz will once again take over and transform Dublin’s Meeting House Square in Temple Bar this June bank holiday weekend (June 4/5). With a stellar line-up including ambient folk from Dublin-born, London-based improvising vocalist Lauren Kinsella AKA Snowpoet (pictured), “two-horns-no-chords” quartet ReDiviDeR, the masterful, guitar-based Weird Glitches and Dublin guitarist, rapper and composer Zaska, organisers said “we’re following in the centenary theme of 2016, on the basis it is roughly 100 years since the birth of jazz (the early jazz period considered to be 1916-1922) which we feel juxtaposes nicely with the struggle for Irish freedom and…

  • Open Ear Festival

    May 16, 2016 - By 

    With the perfectly gallant promise of hosting “the best experimental music Ireland has to offer (and the occasional dance floor banger)” the inaugural Open Ear Festival takes place at the  scenic Sherkin Island off the coast of Cork this June Bank Holiday from June 3-5. Inspired in equal parts by the wealth of diverse electronic music talent in Ireland by other alternative festivals including Unsound in Krakow to Rathin off the coast of Antrim, the organisers hope Open Ear will “carve out a unique space in what is a crowded Irish festival landscape.” Making the mark from the off, this…

  • Battle of the Bay 2016

    May 16, 2016 - By 

    Doubling up as their 10th birthday outing, Dublin’s Dollymount Strand will play host to this year’s Battle of the Bay Watersport Festival on Saturday May 28 and Sunday, May 29. Having steadily grown as one of the best free family weekends in the Irish summer calendar, the festival will play host to sun, sand, kites and surfboards as both Ireland the world’s best kitesurfers descent on the beach to showcase their skills. With over 10k visitors expected over the weekend, this year’s festival will also include DJ sets all days, live music from Rachel McCormack, The Ukelele Band, Anti-One, Evil Empire, Silent Interlude,…

  • Deep Focus: Women In Film Festival @ Triskel Christchurch Cinema, Cork

    April 25, 2016 - By 

    A stellar ten-title, three-day film festival boasting a robust line-up of films by female directors accompanied by a selection of shorts, the inaugural Deep Focus: Women In Festival will take place at Cork’s Triskel Christchurch Cinema from May 6-8. Set to open with The Violators, the new film by UK writer and director Helen Walsh, the programme for the festival strike at the heart of diversity. From looking at complex friendships in Life Partners and the myth and mastery of rock legend Janis Joplin (pictured) in Janis: Little Girl Blue to confronting the precarious nature of “normal” life in the…

  • Reverberation Psych Fest 2016

    April 6, 2016 - By 

    With the psych scene in Ireland growing stronger by the day, the likes of Letterkenney’s Distorted Perspectives, Belfast’s Strange Victory and Sunglasses After Dark and Dublin’s Retro Revival Club play a sizeable role in putting up-and-coming homegrown talent and established acts from further afield a platform in every corner of the country. Presented by the latter, this year’s Reverberation Psych Fest will return to Dublin’s Grand Social across the weekend of April 8-10 with its strongest line-up to date. Featuring The Cosmic Dead, Twinkranes, The Cult of Dom Keller, The Black Tambourines, Woven Skull, Wild Rocket, Beach, I Heart Monster Hero, Sun Mashene and Fabric full details including…

  • Distorted Perspectives 2016

    April 3, 2016 - By 

    Nothing pleases us more than seeing homegrown, independent festivals get it just right. With their altogether (inter)stellar celebration of modern experimental psych music, art and film slotting very comfortably under that bracket, Distorted Perspectives will return to Letterkenny’s Regional Culture Centre from Friday, April 29 to Monday, May 1. Following on from the likes of Ulrich Schnauss and Moon Duo at last year’s festival, this year’s outing will feature psych pop king BC Camplight, Jeffrey Lewis & LOS BOLTS and Captain A & The Commercial Monsters on Friday night, Leeds maestros Hookworms and Dublin’s Twinkranes, who will pair up on the Saturday night, as well as live experimental film scores…

  • Belfast Photo Festival Youth Edition

    April 5, 2016 - By 

    Proudly calling itself Europe’s only photography festival for young people, Belfast Photo Festival’s Youth Edition will take place across the city from April 3 to May 30. With exhibitions focusing on the likes of skate and BMX culture, boxing and the physical and emotional experiences of elite gymnasts, tours and screenings looking at the likes of the Titanic and workshops focusing on gig photography, freestyle and how sports can promote social cohesion and acceptance, this year’s programme bounds with diversity from start to finish. Go here to check out the full programme and to buy tickets.

  • Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival 2016

    March 8, 2016 - By 

    Set to return to Belfast for its grand 17th outing from April 28-May 8, this year’s Cathedral Quarter Art Festival is set to be yet another mouth-wateringly, curiousity-satingly sublime 11 days and nights of music and culture. Ranging from the likes of legendary reggae producer Lee “Scratch” Perry (pictured), The Zombies and Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffatt to David Holmes, John Cooper Clarke and Grandmaster Flash, this year’s line-up (in full below) is, for our money, the strongest CQAF outing to date. Go here to buy tickets.

  • KnockanStockan 2016

    March 1, 2016 - By 

    Having expanding to three days due to demand, annual Wicklow independent music and arts festival KnockanStockan will return to Blessington Lakes across the weekend of July 22-24 for its tenth anniversary outing. Calling it a “celebration of the last 10 years of Irish music”, this year’s festival will also play host to special ‘Honorary Guests’ that won’t be identified until they take to stage. Bettine McMahon from the festival said, “We really want the element of a birthday surprise at this years festival, so our lineup is under lock and key right now, even most of the crew don’t know…