The programme for Culture Night Dublin 2025 has officially been announced, with the annual nighttime celebration of culture set to take place on Friday, September 19th. Over 300 events will be held across the capital, ranging from theatre, music, and dance to podcasting, painting, and poetry. Numerous surprises await at iconic heritage sites, museums, and quirky arts spaces throughout the city.
With Culture Night this year celebrating its 20th year in the capital, Dublin City Council is commissioning a number of unique events across the city.
Meeting House Square will be stacked with live events from early afternoon until late, including the pop-alt sister duo Zeztra as well as performances from Calum Agnew, Lisa Murray and Earthmover. Musicians who are all part of the growth of the Irish language in popular music. Come join Louise O’Connor for a ‘Family Fun Set Dancing’ event. A highlight evening event in the square will feature the Culture Night Dublin ambassador, dancer Favour Odusola, in what promises to be an extraordinary spectacle fusing Nigerian and Irish culture.
The iconic Wood Quay Amphitheatre will be a hive of activity, including performances from Culture Night Dublin ambassador Farah Elle, comedian Sharon Mannion, musical theatre artists Jessica Hayes, Zach O’Brien and the Ballinteer Male Voice Choir. A highlight concert at the Amphitheatre, will feature the Dublin-based Mongolian Ethnic group, Khuur Band, featuring traditional dance and song.
A number of new sites across the city will be activated with events for the first time; Wolf Tone Square will host family entertainment early in the evening, and Diamond Park will host several film screenings. On Dublin’s O’Connell Street, there is a “tea dance” planned for beneath Cleary’s Clock, accompanied by a full swing band and an early evening time event, ‘talking statues’, will see iconic statues brought to life by period actors. Later in the night, the City Sounds event will transform Central Plaza and Capel Street into open-air disco and techno dance floors.
A unique project to be launched this Culture Night is “After Light: These Dark Citizens” (ALTDC) by artist Peter Power. The project is described as “a geo-located immersive artwork” that unfolds along a walk across Dublin City, featuring moments of music, storytelling, audio, installation, and poetry. Audience members can choose their own route and encounter the story of the nocturnal city, with the narrative adapting and changing to follow each individual’s choices.
Across the city, the Lab Gallery on Foley Street will host an exhibition featuring works by mixed media artist Aaron Sunderland as well as The Poetry’s Dead Live Podcast show presented by Ryan Duggins and Leon Dunne and Shifting Stages theatre collective presents Mother Storm, an evening of theatre that shines a light on the perfect storm that is motherhood.
The Abbey Theatre will provide free tickets for a special performance of “The Boy,” written by the legendary Irish playwright Marina Carr. The Italian Institute of Culture will showcase “How Italo Disco Made Us Dance!”, a nostalgic exploration of the celebrated Italo Disco scene. The Chester Beatty will feature an evening with emerging singer-songwriter Theo Fitzgibbon, known for his incredible live performances.
The Black Church Print Studio will offer live print demonstrations by professional artists, while Flux Studios will provide craft workshop demonstrations throughout the evening. Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre will present a series of exhibitions during Culture Night featuring works by celebrated artist and musician Martin McCann. For history buffs, the Secrets of Dublin: Hidden History Walking Tour invites visitors away from the beaten track, providing a fresh and unexpected view of the city. The outreach programme of leading theatre dance company CoisCéim will take over the bandstand in Fairview Park with Performing Memory, a new outdoor dance performance choreographed by Simone O’Toole, in unique collaboration with Ukrainian visual artist Sasha Kurmaz.
Over at the Guinness Storehouse visitors can experience a new afterdark immersive exhibition. “These Walls” celebrates the people and place of Dublin 8 and features the work of visual artists Deirdre Breen and Owen de Forge exploring memory and place through light, sound, and form. The exhibition is complemented by live contemporary dance performance and a guided street art tour will also take place on the night, highlighting the new on-street artworks created as part of the project.
The 20th edition of Culture Night Dublin will be held on Friday, September 19th, from 4 PM until very late. For full details of the Dublin events, see culturenight.ie/Dublin.
Image Credits: Capel Street | night time CREDIT Pati Guimaraes
Meeting House Square | Set Dancing CREDIT Kate Lawlor
