Happenings: A few things worth checking out around the city

AXA Raheny 5

All roads lead to Raheny this weekend for one of the top road races in the country. 

The 2017 AXA Raheny 5 will take place on Sunday, January 29 at 3pm. If you’re not running, why not lend your support to the participants as they make their way around the five-mile course?

While the race features Irish top distance athletes, the AXA Raheny 5 caters for runners, joggers and walkers of all abilities who won’t go home empty handed. Every finisher is guaranteed the famous Raheny 5 plaque plus a goody bag.

Participants can enter the race online at www.rahenyshamrock.ie or drop your entry into the AXA Insurance Office, 4 Main Street, Raheny. 

The AXA office in Raheny will open between 10am and 4pm on Saturday, January 28 for number collection and late entries. No entries will be taken on the day.

 

Chinese New Year Festival

One of the most colourful and creative festivals in Dublin’s calendar, the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival, will take place for two weeks, from January 28 to February 12.  

The festival, which was officially launched against the backdrop of Dublin Castle, will transform into a city of carnivals, culture and celebrations as the Chinese welcome the Year of the Rooster. 

Established in 2008, the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival (DCNYF) year-on-year celebrates, promotes and deepens the understanding of the Sino/Irish relationship. 

 

Artistic take on data privacy  

On January 25 and 26 at Project Arts Centre, Dublin, the Goethe-Institut Irland presents two events that consider and explore data privacy in our digital age.

On Wednesday January 25, the Goethe-Institut and Connect the Dots present ‘Under Surveillance’, a dinner and discussion about digital information, data protection and identity. 

The following evening, Thursday, January 26, Turkish artist Nezaket Ekici presents the performance/installation Zeitgeist.

Is it possible to see modern cities – becoming more and more identical – with an outsider’s eye? To what extent is Dublin still itself? In the face of a constructed persona, does the city still embrace its own reality? In ‘Zeitgeist’, Ekici aims to expose a contrary insight without representing the city’s well-known image.

Free but ticketed. Visit www.projectartscentre.ie/event/surveillance-data-privacy-digital-age/

 

Temple Bar TradFest 

Running from January 25-29, the theme for this year’s TradFest is Trad Without Frontiers. 

The programme features a wide array of traditional and world music reflecting the festival theme ‘Trad with Frontiers’. 

The stellar line-up includes headline concerts in many historical and iconic buildings including St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin City Hall, Dublin Castle, St Werburgh’s Church, St Michan’s Church; and in the Button Factory.

There will also be front Row Sessions featuring the very best in the trad and folk music, taking place in the intimate setting of the pubs of Temple Bar.

Full programme details and booking available at templebartrad.com

 

Dead Interesting Glasnevin

Take in an alternative view of the varied heritage that Ireland’s largest cemetery holds and the history within its walls. You will learn of its sculpture, symbolism, architecture, art, sporting heroes, horticulture, natural life and much more.

Visit the graves and hear the stories of little known figures such as Maria Higgins, a woman who died once yet was buried twice in Glasnevin and an Irish chaplain who witnessed the liberation of Bergen Belsen concentration camp.

Tours take place on Saturdays and Sundays at 1pm and tickets cost €13 for adults or €10 for seniors, students and children. Family discounts available. See glasnevintrust.ie.

 

Jersey January at the GAA Museum

Wear your GAA county, club or Kellogg’s Cúl Camp jersey and get half price admission on the Croke Park Stadium Tour this month.

The offer applies to adult, children, senior, student and family tickets and includes free entry to the state-of-the-art interactive GAA Museum that brings visitors on a journey that vividly illustrates the story of Gaelic games from ancient times to the present.

For more info visit crokepark.ie/jerseyjanuary.

 

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Created in December last year as part of the centenary celebration of Joyce’s ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’, the James Joyce Centre has announced the exhibition of new prints by acclaimed printmaker Frank Kiely.

Frank has had 11 solo exhibitions to date. He is a fellow of The Royal Society of Painters-Printmakers. Born in Ireland, he now lives and works in London.

This exhibition is produced by the James Joyce Centre and with the support of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs and Dublin City Council.

It is currently running at no 35 North Great George’s Street.

 

Eugeen Van Mieghem: Port Life

Audiences can experience the works of acclaimed Belgian artist Eugeen Van Mieghem for the first time in Ireland through an exhibition depicting the vibrant life of the Port of Antwerp at Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane (from February 9).

Eugeen Van Mieghem: Port Life is a fascinating visual account of the pulsating life of a working port at the beginning of the 20th century.

Van Mieghem’s work represents a social history, exploring themes of migration, globalisation, port society, the working community, and, the life of the artist – themes that resonate with Dublin as a port city. 

The exhibition can be viewed Tuesday to Thursday, from 9.45am-6 pm, Friday 9.45am-5 pm, Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 11am-5pm. Admission is free of charge. 

 

Banjo & Bovril Festival

THE Banjo & Bovril Trad & Folk Festival is taking place in The Harbour Bar, Bray, until January 29. Have a cup of Bovril to warm up – before settling into a night drinking porter, singing and playing banjos, guitars, bodhráns, mandolins and whatever other instruments are at hand.

The line-up includes Mick Flannery, The Eskies, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and David Keenan.

For more Harbour Bar favourite musical acts, and special guests keep an eye on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and posters around the bar.