Festival of World Cultures

This is the best free Summer festival is Dublin without doubt. Featuring over 800 artists from 33 countries in 180 events, the Festival of World Cultures held in Dun Laoghaire is having its 10th anniversary and to celebrate it has its strongest line-up yet. With new dates at the end of July, the Festival provides audiences with the best multi-arts, multi-cultural holiday feast of the summer without ever needing to leave Ireland better yet most of the acts are free.

Festival of World Cultures

This year’s three-day festival incorporates Irish premieres of some of the world’s most outstanding musicians, including: legendary Algerian King of Raï, Khaled; former Sigur Rós string section and Icelandic Cultural Award winners
Amiina; Beninese voodoo funk sensations Orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou; Malian
superstar Rokia Traoré; and creative revolutionary Jah Wobble with his new project The
Nippon Dub Ensemble.

Mr Whippy Sound System

Marking a decade of presenting extraordinary world music and art from around the globe, the
Festival has assembled an exhilarating programme of very special 10th Anniversary events,
including Homeland, a commissioned collaborative performance featuring four of the world’s
most fascinating voices – Iarla Ó Lionáird, Tanya Tagaq and duo Adjágas; Faith Space, a
universal faith-based exploration in response to the International Charter for Compassion; a
spectacular Birthday Bloco Carnival which will take over the streets of Dún Laoghaire for a
lavish party; and the Festival’s first internet radio station Radio Hemisphere.

Artistic Director Jody Ackland said “We have come so far since our first festival in 2001 and each
year we continue to attract some of the biggest and best International artists while creating
incredible experiences for our diverse audiences. Ten years on, and it feels like a good time to reflect
on how we have grown and changed as a society. This Festival, the only one of its kind in Ireland, is
our national positive response to that change – it’s a joyous, forward-looking celebration of
integration, social inclusion, multicultural exchange and the arts.”

With more than 387 hours of activities over the Festival weekend, the dlr Festival of World
Cultures, named one of the Top 25 International Music Festivals by Songlines Magazine, is a
diverse and fun-filled exploration of performance, world crafts, dance, art, faith, cuisine and
music that attracts family, ethnic community and music audiences from Ireland and abroad. Its
unique combination of free and great-value ticketed events is unrivalled in Ireland.