Culture Night Dublin comes of age | Over 300 free events announced for Dublin City

Now in its 21st year, Culture Night returns on Friday, September 18, with over 300 free events taking place.

The programme was unveiled today by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Daryl Barron, alongside this year’s ambassadors, Irish National Breaking champion Leon Dwyer and musician Asha Ari.

For one night only, museums, galleries, heritage sites, artists’ studios, and independent venues will open their doors after hours, offering an incredible programme spanning everything from theatre, tango, and trad music to painting, poetry, and pole dancing.

For its coming-of-age year, the 2026 edition is expanding its outdoor programming, with open-air music events, street parties, and performances planned across the capital.

Dublin City Council is supporting a series of specially commissioned events across the city as part of this year’s programme.

At the Wood Quay Amphitheatre, visitors can experience urban dance performances with Leon “Aleon” Dwyer, or enjoy Mexican ceremonial dance by the Calpulli Mictlan group.

Music highlights include Dublin Gay Men’s Choir and St. James’s Brass and Reed Band.

Meeting House Square will feature a concert headlined by family group Burnchurch bringing their unique blend of blues-pop and traditional Irish music to the heart of Temple Bar.

The square will also play host to K-Pop family dance classes alongside performances by Irish indie-pop artist Holly Munro, alternative rock and indie singer-songwriter Pier, hip-hop artist Celaviedmai, the Dublin folk-rock band Jessie & The Veil, and Culture Night ambassador Asha Ari.

Dublin’s Central Plaza will feature a performance by dance artist Simone O’Toole, as part of BENCH, the award-winning series by CoisCéim Dance Theatre that commissions artists to create work inspired by the city.

As the gears change, the plaza will be transformed into an open-air disco, as festival favourites Super Average DJs spin disco, house, and 90s classics from their iconic Mambo Caravan.

For the first time, as part of the 21st anniversary celebrations, North Earl Street will come alive with support from Dublin City Council’s City Coordination Office.

The concert will be led by alt-pop sister duo Zeztra. Originally from East Wall, they’ll perform a special set in celebration of the local community.

There will be performances from Korean Drumming group Doo-Dong, traditional Mongolian music from the Khuur Band, as well as contributions from local groups including the Rainbow 13+ Arch Club.

The adjoining O’Connell Streetwill play host to rockabilly band TimeBomb, with a mix of high-energy 1950s rock’n’roll and dance classes by Thomas Spratt.

Dublin’s Capel Street will feature a night of open-air electronic music curated by Alice Quinn Banville aka Mooncup.

Elsewhere, Father Collins Park in Donaghmede will play host to a sparkling opera gala offering a unique experience for both seasoned opera lovers and first-time listeners.

Speaking at the programme launch, Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr. Daryl Barron encouraged visitors to join the celebrations:

 “What I love about Culture Night is that it belongs to everyone. It’s an open invitation to step inside a gallery you’ve never visited, hear music you’ve never heard, and see your own city in a new light. It’s a night when Dublin throws open its doors to pay tribute to the artists and creatives who give this city its soul, and when all of us get to become a tourist in our own town and discover the hidden gems of our city. Twenty-one years on, Culture Night remains one of the proudest expressions of who we are as a city, and I can’t wait to see Dublin come alive after dark on 18 September.”

Citywide Programme

Elsewhere across the city, the Church Café Bar on Jervis Street will stage Irish dancing every twenty minutes, beneath its stained-glass window from 1901, courtesy of the world-touring High Kicks troupe.

At the Embassy of Bulgaria, Traditions & Their Transformations brings the ancient Kukeri ritual to Dublin, the winter tradition where dancers wear towering masks of fur and feathers to drive out the dark.

Theatre lovers will enjoy Pretty Vacant from The Performance Corporation, a high-octane musical satire set to a jukebox of Euro-pop bangers, taking place in the historic Tailors’ Hall.

A literary highlight this year is the Irish Writers Centre’s Fierce on Friday!, a promenade showcase through the centre’s Georgian home at 19 Parnell Square.

Anything But Silent at the Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre is an evening built around all the ways LGBTQ+ people make themselves heard, and historian Richard Carson’s walking tour The Fire Next Time will explore the histories of justice, gender, and social change through the stories of five fires spanning 270 years.

At Pavee Point Traveller & Roma Centre, there will be an evening celebrating Traveller culture, including an immersive VR experience by artist Lisa Curtain.

Dublin City Hall fills its magnificent Rotunda room with choral performances, including the 60-strong Stellar Choir, fresh from Carnegie Hall.

Wildcat Ink’s Temple Bar tattoo studio will let attendees try to create their own tattoo (on fake skin, of course!).

Those after something more meditative can head to the Dublin Buddhist Centre, celebrating 35 years of mantra chanting and Tibetan storytelling, or take to the air with Aerial Cirque’s beginner-friendly silks taster,  no experience required.

The 21st edition of Culture Night Dublin takes place on Friday, 18 September, from 4pm until late.

All events are free and open to everyone.

For full details of Dublin events, see culturenight.ie/Dublin.