What's Happening in Dublin this weekend - Free Events

We’re rounded up five cool things happening this week in Dublin for Free!

Hello, Hello! Hope you are all well, just popping in with some really quick events :)

We’ve got 5 cool things to do in Dublin this weekend!

• Smithwicks Sessions @ Temple Bar Trad Fest

• Red Stables Market - St. Anne’s Park

• Sunday Sketching @ Hugh Lane

• Missing Persons Or My Grandmother’s Secrets: Clair Wills in conversation

• National Gallery of Ireland - Guided Tour

Smithwicks Sessions @ Temple Bar Trad Fest

Until Sunday - Around Temple Bar

From 24th until the 28th January 2024, TradFest will take over a lot of Temple Bar's bars and pubs. As part of Tradfest, the Temple bar company run the Smithwicks sessions, Irish music sessions in various venues around temple bar.

Event times for this fantastic music festival are laid out below, with Zampas making its debut as a venue for Smithwick's Sessions at the landmark festival in the trad calendar.

The Temple Bar Folk Festival allows both Irish people and visitors in Dublin to celebrate our cultural identity through music. Community events like the smithwicks sessions are important opportunities for everybody in Dublin city centre to get involved in Irish culture.

Red Stables Market - St. Anne’s Park

Every Saturday - 10am - 4pm - Free Entry

20 minute sessions start at 11.00am,11.30am, 3.30pm & 4.00pm

Offering free entry, this vibrant market remains undeterred by the concerts happening this week, ensuring you won't miss out on this exceptional experience. Discover an extraordinary assortment of both mouth-watering food and exquisite crafts that showcase the talent and passion of local artisans.

As you step into the lively atmosphere, immerse yourself in the enticing aromas and the kaleidoscope of colours that greet you at every turn. From freshly harvested produce to artisanal cheeses, organic meats, and delectable baked goods, the Red Stables Farmers Market is a haven for food enthusiasts seeking the finest quality and unique flavours.

Come together with the community, support local businesses, and enjoy a truly remarkable experience at the Red Stables Farmers Market in St. Anne's Park. With its free entry, incredible mix of food and crafts, and the chance to grab some unforgettable bread from Bread 41, this market is a must-visit destination for all enthusiasts of quality, taste, and artistic expression.

If you have an event to share or to support The Dublin Buzz and have a shout out, you can contact me here! 

Sunday Sketching @ Hugh Lane

12pm - Hugh Lane Gallery - Free

During these free Sunday sketching workshops for families the Hugh Lane Gallery invites you to explore and respond to our collection and temporary exhibitions through discussion and drawing.

Enjoy Sunday Sketching Workshops from September to June and be inspired as an artist from our panel guides you with some tips and bright ideas! Don’t forget to bring your sketchbook or avail of the materials provided.

The workshops are suitable for budding artists aged 6 years up accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Bookings are not required, although places may be limited.

Missing Persons Or My Grandmother’s Secrets: Clair Wills in conversation

29 January at 6.30pm - Free - Unitarian Church, St Stephen’s Green

When Clair Wills was in her twenties, she discovered she had a cousin she had never met. Born in a Mother and Baby Home in 1950s Ireland, Mary grew up in an institution not far from the farm where Clair spent happy childhood summers. Yet she was never told of her existence.

How could a whole family – a whole country – abandon unmarried mothers and their children, erasing them from history?

To discover the missing pieces of her family’s story, Clair searched across archives and nations, in a journey that would take her from the 1890s to the 1980s, from West Cork to rural Suffolk and Massachusetts, from absent fathers to the grief of a lost child.

There are some experiences that do not want to be remembered. What began as an effort to piece together the facts became an act of decoding the most unreliable of evidence – stories, secrets, silences. The result is a moving, exquisitely told story of the secrets families keep, and the violence carried out in their name.

National Gallery of Ireland - Guided Tour

Saturdays @ 2.30

To start off the tour, meet your tour guide in the Courtyard, near the Merrion Square entrance.

The NGI Visitor Guide is like the bible for details of what to expect on your visit to the Gallery. Every answer you can think of has been fitted into this! You can read the guide here.

All public tours are fully accessible to people who are hard of hearing and use a tour guide system with T-loop capabilities.

The National Gallery run a regular programme of free guided tours in the Gallery. Everyone is welcome - no booking required! These tours are aimed towards including the entire community. Take a look below at one that might suit you better.

• Highlights Tours: Saturdays at 12.30pm and 2.30pm, Sundays at 1.30pm and 2.30pm

• Themed Tours: Saturdays at 1.30pm

• Family Tours: Sundays at 12.30pm

• New Parents' Tours: the 2nd Monday of the month at 2pm

• Tours for the hard of hearing: the 1st Thursday of every 2nd month at 5.30pm

If you would like to support the Dublin Buzz from as little as €2 then you can do so now

Please share this event guide with your friends or family who might enjoy some of the events in here!

We’re working on something new to bring to the free events scene in Dublin and hope to publish soon.

If you have an event to share or to support The Dublin Buzz and have a shout out, you can contact me here!