MusicTown
A highlight of Dublin’s events calendar each April is MusicTown. Overseen by Aiken Promotion and Dublin City Council, it is a celebration of the diversity of music styles and genres that cohabit and crossbreed in the city. Sadly, the 2020 edition has been rescheduled to September. But while we wait to party together again, let’s take inspiration from past festivals to ease our ennui as we wait for better days.
For adults
Last year the Irish National Opera presented The Deadly World of Opera. This was a series of presentations delving into the world of Opera and asking some pertinent questions, such as why do singers sing in Italian? And what is an Aria? Turn off the round clock news updates and discover the wonderful world of opera, Or for a more passive approach, you can enjoy the Irish National Opera’s new production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly on RTE player here.
Despite its title, this festival is always about much more than music. Blindboy, of Rubberbandits fame, hosted a series of discussions in 2019. Always thought provoking, his podcasts are well worth a listen and an easy way to put down an hour.
For older children
A popular event for older children from the 2019 programme was the performance by Dublin-based theatre group, Tales from the Shadows. Their gothic stories and shadow puppetry enthralled their audience. We challenge you to make your own shadow puppet theatre.
For younger children
One of our highlights of last year’s festival was the performance by funk music act Stomptown Brass in Temple Bar. Check them out on spotify or YouTube and have a little boogie in the kitchen. Bang the pots and pans. The neighbours won’t mind at all. (Joking obviously, they mind a lot. So maybe through a roll of toilet paper over the fence to keep them sweet).