From glowing city projections to hands-on making and a parade that stops traffic, Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women returns for its fifth year with a seriously stacked Bank Holiday programme.
Inspired by the Celtic goddess Brigit, the five-day festival features plenty to see and do throughout the weekend, with events ranging from craft making to walking tours, the fascinating Imbolc fair at Meeting House Square, and a riot of colour at many of the city’s iconic buildings.
Here are some tips on what to dip into at the festival which runs from January 30th to February 2nd.
Get Stuck Into Something Crafty
If ever there was a festival that loves a workshop this is it!
Over at the National Botanic Gardens, visitors are encouraged to come and see the technique behind making the traditional Brigid’s cross with step-by-step guidance, using fresh rushes on February 1st.
Participants at Brigid’s Spark: Fire in the Body can look forward to exploring how myth can come alive and be present in the room, as part of a lively workshop drawing inspiration from Brigid, the Celtic figure of hearth, poetry, and renewal.
Taking place on Jan 30th at the Gaiety School of Acting, expect simple movement, shared storytelling, and playful theatre exercises.
Elsewhere across the city, highlights include sculpture-making at Throwing Shapes, poetry inspired by Brat Bríde, textile sessions, and creative writing rooted in myth and legend.
Come curious, leave with something you made.
Walk The City Differently
From women-led food tours and folklore walks to foraging in Herbert Park and sketching city streets, Brigit’s walking programme is a brilliant way to see Dublin through new eyes.
History lovers are encouraged to make their way to Wolfe Tone Square, which is the meeting point for a free two-hour walking tour with Dr Caitlin White, one of Dublin City Council’s Historians in Residence, who’ll be uncovering the hidden histories of women who lived life in the city down the years on their own terms.
Check out the Rebel Women Guided Tour at The GPO, or head to EPIC to discover the lives and legacies of women who have blazed a trail in Ireland and abroad courtesy of the Rebels and Revolutionaries Women’s History Tour.
Booking recommended.
Follow the Brigit Parade
Rooted in ancient tradition, The Brigit Parade winds its way through the city centre from it’s starting point on Capel Street at 3.30pm on Sunday February 1st, accompanied by dancers, and a parade of skaters, drummers, dancers, puppets and more.
The spectacle invites audiences to witness light returning and community gathering led by a stilt-walker embodiment of the goddess in a bespoke costume by Sabine Dargent. Part performance, part procession, this event is most of all, a fabulously joyful, collective celebration of women past, present and future.
Lose A Few Hours At The Imbolc Fair
With wreath-making, seed bombs, butter demos, food chats, clothes swaps, kite-making and excellent coffee there’s loads to enjoy as Meeting House Square transforms into a springtime playground on Bank Holiday Monday.
From butter and bacon to lakes of beer, Brigit is surrounded by a rich bounty of legendary food and drink lore, a topic food writers and creatives Ali Dunworth and Santina Kennedy will be dealing with pretty comprehensively at Brigit’s Table.
They’ll be exploring Brigit’s legacy with tastings from some of Ireland’s finest artisan food and drink producers on Monday February 2nd. This one was hugely popular last year, so if it’s on your list of things to do this weekend get that all important booking in!
Alongside delicious foods and hot drinks from Little Catch Seafood and Beannery Vintage Coffee Van, visitors can also look forward to music, stories and hands-on experiences rooted in tradition re-imagined for today. All welcome.
See The City Light Up After Dark
Throughout the festival, Dublin gets a luminous makeover with large-scale projections on the GPO, The Hugh Lane and Dame Street’s Palace Building. Expect poetic, powerful visuals from artists Jill & Gill and Bebhinn Eilish, riffing on Brigit’s links to light, creativity and renewal.
Bathe Yourself in Sound
Music lovers are spoiled for choice with Brigit x District at Abbey Presbyterian Church, featuring Gemma Dunleavy and Muireann Bradley, plus intimate, leftfield performances popping up across the city all weekend.
Tracks from the Racks, a monthly radio programme on Dublin Digital Radio, hosted by Tanya Hunter, presents its annual dedication to Goddess Brigid Matron Saint of Ireland. This year sees it bringing together some of Ireland’s finest Mná, featuring those who carry Brigid’s spark and sacred fire in their work, lives, and creative expression.
In addition, there a host of podcasts, talks and panels dig into Irish folklore, to choose from, featuring women writers, businesses, creativity and resilience — with voices you’ll want to hear more from long after the bank holiday weekend winds to a close.
The festival takes place from Friday January 30th to Monday February 2nd. Full programme details and bookings at dublin.ie/whats-on/brigit.
Words: Martina Murray
