• Mount Stewart Conversations 2016

    September 2, 2016 - By 

    Promising an inspiring, mind-expanding, one-of-a-kind weekend, 19th Century Co. Down country estate Mount Stewart will play host to a veritable feast of talks, debates, storytelling, art, ideas, music, food and drink, performances and house & gardens across September 17-18. With many wonderfully contrasting cultures converging across the weekend, the inaugural Mount Stewart Conversations is a festival built on the esteemed legacy of Ireland’s secret retreat for royals, leaders of state, influencers and aristocracy. For generations a powerhouse of great thinking, art, music, talks and deliberation, it’s an inspired venue for what’s set to be kaleidoscopic fete of ideas presented by…

  • Across The Line at 30 @ Ulster Hall, Belfast

    August 31, 2016 - By 

    Long a bastion of promoting the very best in Irish music, North and South, weekly BBC Radio Ulster programme Across The Line will celebrate its 30th birthday in style with a special live show at Belfast’s Ulster Hall. As well as featuring interviews with many of the acts, The Divine Comedy, SOAK, Therapy?, Villagers (acoustic), R51 and Saint Sister will all perform on the night. Current ATL co-presenter Rigsy said “Rigsy says: “I was practically reared on ATL, with Mike Edgar introducing me to so much amazing Irish music throughout the 90s. So, it’s a real privilege to be presenting…

  • David Lynch Season @ Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin

    August 26, 2016 - By 

    David Lynch Season. Are there three better consecutive words in the English language? Running from September 28 to December 4, Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema will pay tribute to the legendary American director, artist and bona fide auteur with screenings of his filmography to date, including Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Organisers said, “David Lynch’s films, whether big-budget sci-fi, gentle Oscar-nominated drama or noir-ish conduits of his own internal dream logic, are pure cinema. As film lovers, we owe ourselves the opportunity to experience his visions on the big screen. It pleases me immeasurably to…

  • Classic British Horror Screenings @ The Ulster Folk Museum

    August 19, 2016 - By 

    Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, National Museums Northern Ireland, the British Film Institute and FilmHubNI, classic British horror movies come to rural Northern Ireland for a pair of unique events at Cultra, Holywood’s Ulster Folk & Transport Museum. In the atmospheric setting of the Folk Museum, the audience will have an opportunity to wander through the parkland on which the museum is situated and discover the charming period cottages, farms, schools and shops to set the scene. Before the feature, there will be a screening of footage from Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive. Focusing on the theme of folk…

  • Biophilia Live @ Light House Cinema, Dublin

    August 15, 2016 - By 

    For one night only, Dublin’s Light House Cinema will screen Peter Strickland and Nick Fenton’s Björk: Biophilia Live on Saturday, August 20. A 97-minute, multidimensional concert doc filmed at London’s Alexandra Palace in September 2013, it coincided with the Icelandic icon’s critically-acclaimed eighth studio album. Justly described as “an infinitely creative journey that presents a culmination of work that represents one of the most original musical endeavours of a generation”, it’s a spirited snapshot of an icon that is most definitely best experienced on the big screen. Tickets are available to buy here, priced €10.00.

  • Neo-Neo @ Black Box

    August 12, 2016 - By 

    A live performance series celebrating the very best in underground music and experimental visual art, Neo-Neo is a new, four-part series that will take place at Belfast’s Black Box across August and September. Bringing together a choice selection of the country’s most innovative electronic musicians contemporary artists including Barry Lynn AKA The Host, Kab Driver, Black Mountain Transmitter and Kaidi Taitham with visual artists such as Ben Craig, Laura McMorrow, Helena Hamilton & Rachael Campbell-Palmer and more, each installment offers a unique collaborative slant, with the distinct prospect of some very catalytic moments throughout each night. See below for the full schedule for what is set…

  • Another Love Story 2016

    August 9, 2016 - By 

    Easily our favourite small Irish summer festival, Another Love Story returns to the sublime Killyon Manor in Co. Meath from August 19-21. With less than a month to go until this year’s outing, organisers Happenings and Homebeat have revealed their final line-up, including their first ever international act, Sweden’s Badlands. With a host of live acts and DJs including Talos (pictured), Slow Skies, SlowPlaceLikeHome, Lastertom, Somadrone, Carriages and Ships set to make an appearance, the return of The Library and a veritable cornucopia of theatrical and artistic happenings (see full line-up poster below) will take place over the weekend. Tickets are priced…

  • Nirvana/Sonic Youth in Cork: 25th Anniversary Show

    August 5, 2016 - By 

    “[Cobains] came from County Cork, which is a really weird coincidence, because when we toured Ireland, we played in Cork and the entire day I walked around in a daze. I’d never felt more spiritual in my life. It was the weirdest feeling and I have a friend who was with me who could testify to this. I was almost in tears the whole day. Since that tour, which was about two years ago, I’ve had a sense that I was from Ireland.” The words of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain in an interview with a US magazine in July 1993. Less than two…

  • Gem Fest 2

    August 3, 2016 - By 

    Having taken over the Bandstand in Dublin’s Phoenix Park last month for a free, all-ages event with Patrick Kelleher, Roslyn Steer and more, the ever-informed Little Gem Records have announced details of Gem Fest 2. Taking place over the weekend of August 19-21, the Dublin record store and hub will host the following free concerts and events: Friday, August 19 (7pm) Screen Gems Music and B Movie night Little Gem Records (18 Kildare Street) Saturday, August 20 (2pm) Pandelindio & Bird People; Argentinian experimental folk in the park with special guests Stephen’s Green Bandstand Sunday, August 21 (2pm) Freenix & The Bandstand Band Concert &…

  • Open House Festival 2016

    August 1, 2016 - By 

    With a host of lovingly-compiled, brilliantly diverse outings behind them, Open House Festival will return to Bangor from August 1-30. With 125 events taking place in more than 40 venues in the Northern Irish seaside town, music, film, food & drink, theatre, literature, comedy, art, magic, mystery, dance and lectures is – as ever – the perfectly balanced order of the day for the annual Bangor festival. Amongst the highlights in this year’s programme are a 40th anniversary show by The Damned, Iron & Wine, a 70th birthday tribute to former AC/DC frontman Bon Scott, Ian Rankin, Tom Robinson and returning Bangor songstress…