Enjoy an Art Attack as Dublin's Festival Season Swings into Action

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Prepare for a full-on cultural encounter as Dublin pulls up the curtain on its annual autumn arts extravaganza!

Dublin Festival season promises an exciting and eclectic mix with art and architecture and film, as well as a dollop of intriguing drama and great music. This is the perfect showcase of Ireland's cultural capital! Check out the full playbill at discoverireland.ie or find Discover Ireland on Facebook #thisisLIVING

Get ready for Fringe

With 400 events taking place in over 30 venues, Tiger Dublin Fringe, (September 7th - 20th) is the festival for bold ideas, brave performing arts and adventurous audiences. This year it is celebrating 21 years as Ireland's leading multidisciplinary arts festival and features the freshest new theatre, music, live art, comedy, dance and spectacle. This year's line-up includes Romances a once-off theatrical concert from the Late David Turpin, and the Turning Pirate Mix Tape featuring performances from Wallis Bird, Niamh Farrell, Gavin Glass and more.

Have a gallery in Dublin

Check out Dublin Gallery Weekend, (September 11th - 13th) a great new festival where more than 30 contemporary art galleries throw open their doors to invite visitors to enjoy the fantastic art taking pride of place on their walls. Expect a visual feast plus a series of special events including exhibition openings, artist and curator talks, walking tours, late openings and workshops - almost all for free! Galleries taking part include IMMA, the Science Gallery, Douglas Hyde, RHA, and the Project Arts Centre. See www.dublingallerymap.ie

Become a culture vulture

Come and enjoy a free night of culture as Dublin's museums, galleries, churches, historic houses, artists' studios, and cultural centres put their doors on the latch for a free night of entertainment, discovery and adventure. You'll find hundreds of talks, tours, performances and events to participate in. Who needs sleep when you can catch up with friends, meet new people, participate, interact and experience the exhilaration of live performances, workshops, tours, talks, drama, dance and creative spectacles.

Tread the boards for some top class theatre

Enjoy a jam packed programme including 11 premieres by celebrated Irish writers and theatre-makers, alongside some of the very best of international work, at the Dublin Theatre Festival, (September 24th - October 11th). With a dizzying 200 performances, plus a full programme of readings, talks and works-in-development, you'll find theatricals taking place at 22 venues throughout Dublin. This year's highlights include the Irish premiere of Conor McPherson's The Night Alive and The National Theatre of Great Britain's Tony Award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Check out some working class heroes

Know them before they make it big! See over 100 up and coming bands playing over three days at the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival, (October 1st - 3rd) guaranteed to get Dublin rocking. Check out the sounds at cool venues such as The Button Factory, Meeting House Square, Workmans Club, Merchantile, Twisted Pepper and The Grand Social, each hosting box-fresh bands all set to take on the world. Entire festival tickets are just €45 - and no need for wellies!

Knock knock for Open House

The Irish Architecture Foundation's Open House Dublin (October 16th - 18th) opens eyes and doors to the stunning and often off-limits buildings of Ireland's capital city. Over one weekend, almost 100 buildings of all types and periods will open up to welcome everyone in, with special tours given by hundreds of professionals and enthusiasts - and all completely free! This year's event is themed ‘This Place we Call Home' with doors open at the Holy Faith Spirituality Centre, the modern classic the Central Bank designed by Sam Stephenson and preserved tenements at the Iveagh Trust Museum Flat.

Get into the lingo

You don't have to have the gift of the gab to enjoy the Dublin Lingo Festival, (October 16th - 18th), a high volume spoken-word festival returns to Dublin with workshops, poetry slams, hip-hop and more. A vibrant, international event, it's headed up by some of Dublin's finest independent promoters, arts curators and artists. This year features American poetry legend Saul Williams, UK viral star Hollie McNish as well as live band extravaganza Tongue Fu.

Become gloriously gothic in Dublin

Celebrate Dracula's Daddy, writer Bram Stoker, and Dublin's dark side during the Bram Stoker Festival, (October 23rd - 26th) - four days of living stories and four nights of hedonistic, undead adventures. Inspired by the heritage of the Dublin-born novelist and his notorious novel, Dublin city will get gloriously gothic - perfect for the run-up to Halloween. A packed programme includes interactive art installations, a Halloween procession through the city streets, film events, vampire themed parties, a city-wide hunt for roaming vampires as well as art exhibitions and engaging talks.