BERNICE HARRISONon alternatives to movies and the mall
Can you Handel it?
Dublin’s Temple Bar isn’t usually the most child-friendly of places, but all this week it’s been buzzing with family-oriented events as part of Temple Bar Cultural Trust’s Dublin Handel Festival.
Today at 11am there’s a papier-mache workshop, where children can learn how to make three-dimensional designs with paper before designing and moulding their own bust of Handel. Admission is free at SS Michael John’s, on West Essex Street.
Spend the rest of the morning wandering around Temple Bar and see actors dressed in 18th-century costume promenade the streets as they show what Dublin’s gentry used to look like. At 2pm Dublin String Quartet give a free concert in Temple Bar Square.
Tomorrow, Baroque Idol, at 3.30pm at the Chester Beatty Library, in the grounds of Dublin Castle, promises a glimpse of the day-to-day life of an aristocratic child in Handel’s time.
Most of the festival events are free, but one that might be worth paying for is a most unusual theatrical experience. Staged on the Jeanie Johnstonship, Handel's Crossingis a reimagining of George Frederick Handel's arrival in Dublin in 1742 for the world premiere of Messiah. Meet the great composer and his servants on board as they await the first performance, on Fishamble Street, of this now revered masterpiece. Board at the Liffey River Cruises dock at Bachelors Walk. Performances today and tomorrow at 4.20pm and 6pm. Tickets (€15/€10) on 01-8883610, www.templebar.ie.