Festivals & Events
Festivals, exhibitions and participative projects are all ways of making visible the wider range of relationships held by Dublin City Arts Office.
They also provide access for targeted publics and offer high quality artistic experiences that engage with the fabric of the city and provide opportunities for artists to create and display their work.
Over the lifetime of the Arts Plan Dublin City Arts Office will lead the development of a new multi-genre music festival for the city, built from partnership and collaboration between the city’s music organisations, artists and producers.
A new city festivals network is currently in development, which will concentrate on practical and programming collaborations between festivals in the city. Sign up to our newsletter for updates.
Are you an event organiser? Dublin City Arts Office website now includes online resources for your free use: Local Festival Toolkit.
Many successful and much-loved arts festivals are already programmed and supported by the Arts Office.
For a list of festivals receiving support but not programmes by the Arts Office, see our list of Supported Festivals and Events.
Culture Night Dublin
Culture Night is an annual all-Ireland public event that celebrates culture, creativity and the arts. On Culture Night, arts and cultural organisations and venues of all shapes and sizes, including the National Cultural Institutions, extend their opening hours to allow for increased access to the public.
International Literature Festival Dublin
The International Literature Festival Dublin, founded in 1998 as the Dublin Writers’ Festival, is Ireland’s premier literary event and gathers the finest writers in the world to debate as well as provoke, delight and enthrall audiences.
MusicTown
The inaugural MusicTown was held in 2015; a new annual festival, celebrating all of Dublin’s music, comprising over 50 musical events for all ages and all tastes.
Opera in the Open
Opera in the Open is an annual season of outdoor abridged opera performances. Check out this year's programme here.
Bealtaine Dublin
Bealtaine is the national festival celebrating creativity as we age. It takes place each May countrywide, and involves thousands of participants in events in every art form. Bealtaine showcases the talents and creativity of both first-time and professional older artists.