I've been going to this festival since I moved to Swords and can always count on it to be an…read moreamazing experience. This has always been a place for everything-- Funfair on the beach, BBQ on the Green, food stalls around the village with fun and games, demonstrations, competitions and live entertainment wild art, every kind of music ever playing in different places all at once, and cool performances.This festival gets crowded the later it gets, so I recommend getting there mid-afternoon. It is a lot of fun for what it is, especially for kids. Make sure you bring lots of cash for your food and other things you might want to purchase.

Bray Summer Festival, otherwise known as Brayfest, brings entertainment and fun with it every year…read more The 'fest' runs for six weeks in July and August and offers air displays, live music on Bray's bandstand, garden parties and performances in Bray's 'Kilruddery House', children's entertainment, street performances and markets. Many Bray businesses, from pubs and restaurants to the Mermaid Arts Centre, get involved and, forgive the cliché, but there is usually something for everyone. The annual fireworks display takes place down on Bray Promenade after an evening of music on the bandstand. A funfair, including big wheel, has already set up camp on Bray's seafront and I have already attended a mini-Italian festival complete with food, music and wine. This year the organisers have dispensed with the annual 'lovely girls' competition, 'Face of Bray, but fear not lads, it's set to return next year! Programmes are available from the website.

Bray is a seaside town, just a few miles south of Dublin…read more It is mainly Victorian, with beautiful Victorian houses in the most part. One of the holds a lot of history for my daughter. There is a lovely esplanade which goes on for several miles with a simple barred fence to stop you falling into the very choppy Irish sea. You can see as far north as Howth, and south as far as Bray Head, which is a challenging walk up the hill, after the end of the esplanade. On the other side of the Esplanade is a well kept park, with flower borders, a bandstand and bowling green. The look is again quite Victorian, and there is something very nearly English about all this. At the northern end of the esplanade is a fine pub, where they are very welcoming and all your relatives will buy you a drink. Not many non Irish know of Bray, but Dubliners are usually fond of it.

I was super excited to this event. I have been to some fitness days before and knew what to expect…read more I knew that Wellfest would start at about 9 am but I had walked for about 5 hours in the previous evening because of Dublin's Culture night so I was tired and needed to sleep in a little, arriving there at about 11.30 am. I could hear the loud music pumping and I could not wait really. I passed the entrance with no hassle as my name was noted in the Yelp list. Turning to the entrance's corner I saw Emily and Kate in the "Yelp desk" teaching many people how to upload the app and check in to get some freebies. I was a bit disappointed because there were no Yelp special goodies bags anymore and I thought there would be a few saved for the Yelp reporters (but it was my fault as I did not know they would be available for a certain number of people who checked in first) but there was none left so I grabbed a few things that were available and I was told I needed to upload a picture to get the stylized water bottle (which looked all red and pretty amazing). The internet sign was not so good in the park and it took me some time to be able to upload one so by the time I went back there was nothing left. I decided to go around to see what was happening and went right away to the well being tent to try some stretches. I was impressed by the amount of people that were there and I can see the health industry is getting big in Dublin as probably many people were there really because it seemed pretty hype and cool. I thought that for the price people would get some sort of Wellfest bag with samples (because that is what sponsors do in such events) and that yoga mattresses would be provided not to keep but only to use in there when needed but I did not see any, only a few people that seemed a bit lost like me (doing planks in the grass, but this was not such an issue) wondering where was that info that we should have brought our own and then I saw it was being sold in there. Some things were very well organized as the well kept toilets, a station with drinkable water and another one for cleaning up the hands with sanitizer. There were lots of food sellers and the main stage was the one that seemed the most energetic. The set up was basically 2 well being tents (one for walk-ins and the other one for very similar workshops that had to be booked online and had a huge waiting list so I preferred to go to the first tent instead; a spinning tent with lessons that also needed to be booked and were paid; a TRX exercise station with interesting looking machinery; a tent for talks and a cooking show and the biggest tent of the whole festival only had the purpose of selling healthy foods such as active almonds, raw coconut, protein bites, essential oils and so on. Also there were a few bean bags on the grass to relax (but only to the lucky few who managed to catch them!). I decided to browse everywhere then I watched the Happy Pear chefs cooking veggie pad thai and banana bread, did a full on aerobics Viking method of squats/jumping/plank/kicks for 45 mins, relaxed with yoga and meditation for beginners and had some protein balls (because the queues were insane in the stalls). The main thing is that for the price of 35 euros I felt that most people were flogged lots of products that are part of diet fads and it seemed absurd to have to pay extra for a particular workshop. Also, the tent for talks did not have so many interesting topics even though the chefs were indeed funny and charming all the way. Dublin has so much to offer and there are several classes of yoga/pilates/meditation done in parks for free of for a fiver and I did not see anything that was very impressive to be worthy the entrance. Also, being very used to exercises and gym I knew most of the techniques and there are many videos in Youtube which can be followed in your home to do the same thing. For me it was an overall "meh" experience unfortunately even though I still loved to have the opportunity to check it out (thanks you guys!)

There is a LOT to like about Ireland's first fitness & wellbeing festival, most of all is the fact…read morethat there's never really been something like this in Ireland. Held in the completely transformed Herbert Park, there was a feeling in the air that, yes this is strange and unusual, but that it was also the beginning of something that feels perfectly on point for modern day Ireland. First off, congratulations to the organisers for putting together something like this in IRELAND. The weather was completely fine but the gamble these guys were taking was pretty intense. With normal, boozed fuelled music festivals, if it starts raining then you just lash on more booze and numb your way out of the weather. This wouldn't have been an option at Wellfest with the strongest substance going being coffee or some healthy red bull alternatives, not quite enough to make you forget about any rain that could have happened. Thankfully the weather produced the goods. A full range of workshops from yoga to TRX training awaits anyone brave enough to get sporty in front of hundreds of others, and surprisingly everyone was totally jumping in. It was actually a really cool experience watching so many people just forget themselves a little and start joining in on workshops with complete strangers. The TRX training was unlike anything I would normally do but I'm thankful I got to try it out (my body isn't so thankful). There was an all too short meditation section that MANY people seemed interested in, and I really think the organisers should give this a bit more focus next year just by the huge number of people that were interested in it. Some great talks on nutrition (sugar, never again) and mental health by Bressie and others were some of the highlights for me. In fact, just like with meditation, I think even more could be done in these areas next year with maybe some interaction for people to make it more fun and to get people to open up a bit more. People rarely put themselves out there when it comes to expressing themselves and when attending an event like this with an open mind, this really could be capitalised on to bring the most out of people artistically and emotionally. The fact that Bressie talking about mental health was the most attended of the events (as far as I could see) really shows that people are very curious about mental health, and their curiosity could be rewarded more. A special shout-out to the range of amazing foods & drinks provided by some really awesome small businesses. This was suppose to be an event about fitness but the amount I ate would say otherwise. All in all, this event is what I want to see more of. Fitness, mental health, nutrition & openness are some real things that Ireland could pioneer in for the future and it's events like Wellfest that will lead the vanguard in these areas. Sign me up for round 2.

I love all things German so always make an effort to get down to Oktoberfest and soak up a bit of…read morethe atmosphere...except this year there was a bit more of an 'Irish Festival' vibe, not exactly what I was looking for! We got down there around half six on a Saturday and didn't have to queue to get in. We also got seats at the edge of one of the tables really quickly, which was handy as it would have been awkward standing with the volume of people moving through. We got the obligatory pints of Erdinger which were fine, but at €6.50 a pop you would expect them to be full, which they weren't. I then went in search of some proper German Bratwurst. A lot of the stalls were selling hot dogs with frankfurters but if you want a proper bratwurst there's one stall beside the entrance (looks like a wooden cabin) and you can get a really tasty hot dog here for €5.50, not bad given the size of the portion. They also had some other dishes here like fried potatoes with saurkraut and these looked really good too. After a while we tried some gourmet popcorn with melted marshmallow (€4) and a cinnamon pretzel (€2.50) from two of the stalls and both were really tasty. We hung around for a couple of hours but at around half nine we decided to move on as things were getting a bit messy. While I love the food and drink associated with Oktoberfest, I'm not really a fan of the 'Irish Festival' vibe and that's what was on offer down here, becoming progressively more present as the night went on. Also, we saw three ambulances arrive during our time there and given the fact thay we were down there quite early this was quite concerning. I will go back to Oktoberfest next year but I'll be heading down early and leaving early!

So made it back after my first visit was thwarted by a long Q. Arrived at 5pm and we queued for 15…read moremin before finally getting in. The place was already packed so I can only imagine how busy it would be later. 12 euro for a ltr of beer and 5 euro deposit for your plastic glass which is returned upon presenting your token once done. How could they improve? - Get organised. With the hordes of thirsty beer guzzling customers they need to get the beer flowing better. - 5 euro deposit for a plastic glass? Charge 5 euro upfront or set up a return station as you leave because as things stand it's not working - Layout is not great and doesn't lend itself to a flow of traffic. I would suggest they look at how the food and beer stations are positioned. Finally it's not very German nor does it even get close to representing a beer garden experience. The music isn't reflective and at 5pm there were already people who were "two sheets to the wind" Glad I went but in its current format I doubt I'd go back on 2016

As a Yelp Elite member, I was invited to attend a headline performance of MythFest 2014, "The…read moreSorrows." As I walked through the main gates of Trinity College, I was reminded of the last time I attended a theatrical performance there. It was 25 years ago when I enjoyed a summer program at Trinity. One afternoon, I noticed that a student production that was just about to start. When I entered the small theater's foyer, there were slabs of rustic bread slathered with butter and sprinkled with grated cheese served with, of course, mugs of steaming tea. As I settled into the intimate seating area, I thought how very inviting it was to have a treat allowed in the theater. The plot was based on an Irish tale about Dierdre and Naoise, with just two cast members who wore historic-looking dress and acted out a plot that called to mind Romeo and Juliette. I never forgot those names: Dierdre and Naoise, and I never forgot that experience, either. Therefore, I was happy to return to Trinity to see what was on the theatrical menu for this evening. As the cast came out and spoke to the audience about the play, the name "Dierdre" was mentioned. It gave me a bit of a start, but it took a few minutes before I understood that the subject of "The Sorrows" was, in fact, a contemporary adaptation of Dierdre's story with Naoise. What a strange coincidence. For me, the play emphasized those 25 years that have passed, but certainly not in a negative way. After this lengthy background/context to my review, I begin properly with this evening's production: I firmly believe that much of one's experience of a cultural event is based on the total experience - the setting, interactions with staff, the seating, refreshments, and yes, even the bathrooms. There is something very special about walking through the gates of Trinity College, like walking down an ancient Babylonian Processional Way. If you allow it, it shifts your mindset away from the bustle of the city streets beyond. As another counterpoint, the outdoor Rose Garden theater setting itself felt drenched in nature, with leafy trees and rich green grass composing the "set." Props were actually hung in trees. It felt like the right setting for a mythological exploration. The script and production, however, questioned and re-contextualized myth today. The Deirdre myth(s) took on a hip, fun, and iterative quality as the notion of "myth" breathed fresh air through imagining it as set at a Trinity Ball in 2014. One of the qualities of myths is that they do not have a single meaning nor interpretation, and so the dialog offered multiple perspectives, interpretations, and beliefs about exactly what happened, with the seven cast members acting almost like seven witnesses to a crime, where each one saw or thought something completely different. It came across as a post modern or deconstructavist take on an ancient myth that can be seen as an experience today. Playfully, the three men and four women each were Deirdre and each were Naoise, and all played witnesses to the events that took place between those two protagonists and also with Connor, who in this context was a Trinity Lecturer and romantic interest for Deirdre. Does it sound a bit confusing? During the 45-minute performance, it was actually quite easy to follow the story (kudos to the writers, Shaun Dunne and Claire O'Reilly, and the Director, Patrick Culhane), but at the beginning, this multiple-storytelling did take a little while to get through the introduction of the characters and initial plot. Also, it came across as a little too self-referential to set the story at Trinity, feature student-aged characters who plot-wise attended the Trinity Ball, and to also stage the play at Trinity. This may have an exclusionary affect (though I'm sure this is not the desire) upon the intended audience outside of Trinity College students or parents of Trinity College students. Still, this production sparkled with liveliness, which seems to be one of the goals: to feel the breathing relevance of mythology today. The cast glowed with youth and vigor as they sang (not too much, but yes, sang), chorused, dashed about, and otherwise delivered performances with an ease and precision that reflected the intentional stylization of the play. In the end, "The Sorrows" was serious in its purpose to revisit mythology and to ask the audience to recognize myth's relevance today, it was lighthearted and contemporary in some of its dialog and musical choices, and it was quite satisfying, actually. Even in my own, very personal experience, thinking about my first introduction to Deirdre and Naoise at Trinity 25 years ago to my re-introduction in a very different way tonight, I feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to think about this particular myth as it has been part of my memory and my experience of Ireland over time.

Wow. Clever,…read morehilarious, enthralling, and surprisingly for a re-telling of an old myth, unpredictable. I won't go into details of what happens when, but suffice to say that there is an ongoing tangle between past and present in a way I don't recall ever seeing before. The venue too lends a real air of mysticism and history; and beauty too - I'm making a note to go back to the Rose Garden someday on my own and chill within it's gorgeous walls, underneath the huge sprawling tree. There's one night left at the time of writing this review, and I would encourage anyone who has the hour to spare to go check out the inspiring future of theatre in Ireland.

Had a great time. Everyone was super friendly and the place looked awesome. Only flaw was there…read morewasn't a whole lot of things happening and the panels were drowned out by the crowds

5 euro gets you entry, 2.5 euro gets you a token (good for a half pint). Then, you wander and enjoy…read moredrafts by trading said tokens. Food is also available for purchase, while the music will keep you company. Personally, I like the pay as you go idea versus the pay a lot upfront and try to make up for it. I also liked being offered samples in case you hadn't tried and can't commit to a pint (or half). Finally, being able to come and go as I please was nice.

I walk in and am greeted with a vista of beer and bearded men... "these, these are my people" I cry…read moreloudly... no one hears me but mostly because many other short, fat balding slightly hipster-esque dudes have all walked in behind me shouting something similar. The hall is packed with stands and happily glugging punters... not uncomfortably so and the vibe is good. Of course it helps enormously if you are granted a tour of the stands by a noted beer blogger who knows EVERYONE and can point you in the direction of the very best booze the festival has to offer, but even if you are not so fortunate, it would still be a great if not very filling and slightly wobbly experience. To compliment the 2,000 beers on display and to taste (half a pint is about €3/one token) there is a small food area out the back serving up curries and pizza and hot dogs and other delights... it is nothing short of Mecca for the beery inclined. I had a blast and shall absolutely return next year... and the next and the next.

12 Days of Christmas Market is nice to visit during this time of the year. It will get you into the…read moreChristmas spirit, as you walk through the crowd visiting the many Christmas booths. Booths from countries such as Germany, Holland, Switzerland and others, with foods or other Christmas items. This is a fun market to visit with the whole family, and keep in mind that parking will be a tough one. . .

It's Christmas!!! And how do we know? Cause the Christmas market in the IFSC is here! This Annual…read moretreat is still called the 12 days of Christmas even though its going on for 14 days this year. It's down in that little area beside the CHQ building that floats in the middle of the water which always excites me! :-) I think this market is just magic with lots of yummy food and little stalls with crafty little gifts that you can put in people stockings but my favorite is the stand with German beers and the one with the gluhwein, its not officially Christmas until you have had your first mulled wine,mmmmmm! This stall does not open until Thursday of this week, the 10th of December but that's well timed for the weekend! Another plus for this year is the fact that the red line luas extension opened today so I don't have to try walking home after filling myself with Christmas goodies I can get the luas to take me some of the way!

As a volunteer for the booth benefiting Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Dublin, I attended the…read morefirst "Paws in the Park" dog event held at the National Show Centre, Cloughran, Co. Dublin, which ran 28-29 June 2014. This was a family and community centered weekend, and it welcomed people of every age and their doggie friends to enjoy a wide range of events, training sessions, and demonstrations/performances that ranged from agility, obedience, games, "doggie dancing," drill teams, sled dogs, and fun competitions. Embedded within all the fun was an emphasis on safe and responsible pet ownership. Outside areas featured booths (where I was stationed) of interest to pet owners and enthusiasts, but there was also plenty of room to walk around with your dog, meet other people, and if you brought small children, allow them to take a turn in a bouncy castle. It was a relaxed atmosphere that was perfect for a family outing or just a couple of hours on one's own to learn a few tips to improve owner-pet relationships. Overall, it was a fantastic event, and with more exposure, I am sure that Paws in the Park will continue to thrive and attract even more visitors in years to come. Pricing for 2014 was as follows, and again demonstrates that Paws in the Park was dedicated to making this a fun and affordable day for all: (prices are listed for at the gate/advanced booking) Adult €10.00/€8.50 Senior €7.00/€5.00 Child (3-15 years) €7.00/€5.00 Family (2 adults + 2 children) €30.00/€25.00 Family (2 adults + 3 children) €35.00/€28.00