Greetings from Third Castle
Dublin City Centre is having one of those weeks where there is genuinely too many good things on at the same time. From Wednesday 5 to Tuesday 11 August, the city centre has international showjumping, Premier League football, a sold-out orchestra and a two euro rave, and this is your guide to all of it.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Gallagher Dublin Horse Show
Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 August · from 09:00 · RDS
This is the year to go if you've been meaning to. The Nations' Cup for the Aga Khan Trophy turns 100 this year, the Rolex Grand Prix is worth a million euros, and the new Laya Arena opens for the first time. Beyond the sport there are 350 plus exhibitors, a Kids Zone, and Ladies' Day with its Best Dressed circus on Thursday. General admission covers Ring 1, Ring 2 and Simmonscourt; book the Main Arena separately if you want a seat for the Friday Aga Khan.
Arsenal v Real Betis
Wednesday 5 August · 19:30 · Aviva Stadium
Arsenal's first pre-season visit to Dublin since 2018, and the first time these two clubs have ever met anywhere. Pre-season friendlies can be sleepy, but a near-full-strength Arsenal side two weeks before the Premier League starts tends not to be. Kickoff is 19:30, and with Betis fans travelling in numbers the away end should carry the atmosphere.
Sunny Day Real Estate
Thursday 6 August · 19:00 · The Grand Social
The Seattle band that more or less invented second-wave emo has never played Ireland. Thirty years after Diary, they're finally here, and they're doing it in a 300-cap room rather than an academy-sized venue, which is frankly a gift. If LP2 soundtracked any part of your life, this is the one this week. Doors 19:00.
Jazz Jam in the Bohemian
Wednesday 5 August · 20:30 · The Bohemian Pub
A proper community jam rather than a gig: standards from the Real Book, whoever shows up plays, singers welcome if they know their key. Players should land 30 minutes early to meet the room; listeners can just take a pint and enjoy some of the better free music in the city on a Wednesday. Runs until 23:00.
GMT Jazz Club
Thursday 6 August · doors 18:00, music 19:00 · Glass Mask Theatre
Glass Mask turns its Dawson Street room into something closer to a 1970s New York jazz spot, with table service running through the set. The music is blues and swing from a rotating cast of Dublin's best players, and the 150-minute running time means it's a full night, not a support-slot-sized taster. Book a table rather than chancing the door.
NØ Collective Opening Party
Thursday 6 August · 23:00 · The Sound House
A new Dublin rave collective launching with hard bounce and hard techno in the main room and schranz and industrial on the terrace, headlined by Mullingar's DJOED. Entry is €2, which barely covers the cloakroom anywhere else in town. If you want to hear where Dublin's harder dance scene is heading, this is a cheap way to find out. Runs until 03:00, 18 plus with ID.
Ebony: The KM2 Deluxe Tour
Friday 7 August · 19:00 · The Grand Social
Brazilian rap in Dublin is rare enough; Brazilian rap from someone topping streaming charts at home is rarer still. Ebony's KM2 Deluxe Tour lands at The Grand Social on Friday, and the Brazilian community here will make sure the room knows every word. Worth it even if your Portuguese stops at "obrigado".
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life
Friday 7 August · 19:30 · National Concert Hall
The RTÉ Concert Orchestra performs the 1976 Album of the Year front to back, directed from the trumpet by Ryan Quigley with four vocalists including Hamish Stuart of Average White Band. That record was half orchestral to begin with, so this is one of the rare album tributes that actually gains something in the format. Sold out, but returns do appear; ring the box office rather than refreshing the site.
Limehouse Lizzy
Saturday 8 August · 20:00 · Whelan's
The longest-running Thin Lizzy tribute there is, doing the twin-guitar catalogue in the main room of the most Thin Lizzy-appropriate venue in Dublin. Tribute acts are a mixed bag; this lot have been at it for three decades because they're the good kind. €27.50 and it will be loud.
Miss Kaninna
Saturday 8 August · 20:00 · Whelan's (Upstairs)
A Yorta Yorta woman from Australia making fierce, politically loaded hip-hop and neo-soul, playing the small room upstairs while the tribute act fills the big one below. She's been tipped hard at home and rooms this size won't hold her for long. €21.50.
David Byrne's American Utopia
Wednesday 5 August · 20:30 · Light House Cinema
Spike Lee's film of the Broadway run, back in 4K with an introduction recorded by Byrne for this release. If you never saw the stage show, this is the closest thing to it: barefoot marching band, grey suits, and the best-drilled live act of the last decade. One screening only, 18s and over.
Opera in the Open: Madama Butterfly
Thursday 6 August · 13:00 · Wood Quay Amphitheatre
Free Puccini in the open air on your lunch break, abridged to an hour and narrated in English so you don't need to know the opera going in. This series has been one of the city's best free things for years and Butterfly is the strongest opener the 2026 run could ask for. Bring a cushion or a camping chair; the amphitheatre steps are stone.
Banned Comics at the NLI
Thursday 6 August · 18:00 · National Library of Ireland
Comics scholar James Bacon on how 1950s Ireland ran its own version of the great comics moral panic, with censorship aimed squarely at foreign publications. He literally wrote the book on it; his study of comics censorship in 1950s Ireland is out later this year. Free, one hour, recommended for 16 plus.
Tony Cantwell
Thursday 6 August · 20:00 · Little Whelan's
One of the funniest people in Irish comedy doing surreal character work in a room the size of a sitting room, for €13.50. Cantwell fills much bigger venues than this; a Little Whelan's date is the comedy equivalent of a secret gig. It will sell out, so move quickly.
Jaiva Afrodance Festival: Bridging the GAP
Friday 7 to Sunday 9 August · Project Arts Centre
Three days of Afrodance workshops, cyphers, Saturday night battles and a Sunday performance night, with international teachers including UNKLE TC and OFFICIALPAK. The €100 beginner pass is the smart way in if you're new: beginner-only workshops plus the battles and the closing show. Complete beginners are genuinely welcome, which is not true of every dance festival.
Nimrods: A Green Day Comedy
Tuesday 11 August · 20:15 · Light House Cinema
Three friends drive a van across America to open for Green Day on New Year's Eve, with Mason Thames, McKenna Grace and Jenna Fischer along for the ride. It's exactly the kind of mid-sized studio comedy that skips most Irish screens, so trust the Light House to book it. Tuesday is the first of just two screenings.
Family Tour: Seamus Heaney, Listen Now Again
Thursday 6 August · 11:30 · National Library of Ireland
A family-paced walk through the Heaney exhibition, built from the archive the poet's family gave the Library: his writing desk, manuscripts, letters and recordings. Kids get an honest introduction to the country's best-loved poet without a classroom in sight. Free, and the exhibition is worth an hour of anyone's time.
Family Concert: Musical Picnic with The Summer String Quartet
Saturday 8 August · 13:00 · National Concert Hall
A picnic-blanket string quartet concert in the John Field Room, with instrument try-outs and musical face-painting from 12:15 before a note is played. Under-3s go free and the family ticket is €37 for four. Currently sold out; the box office on 01 417 0000 is your best hope for returns.
Playtime on Parliament Street
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August · 12:00 to 16:00 · Parliament Street
The closing weekend of Summer in Dublin turns Parliament Street into a giant games zone: novelty basketball, soccer and Gaelic games, building blocks, and a dedicated family area. It's free, it's in the middle of town, and it's the kind of thing the city should do more of. Just walk up.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Dublin City check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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