Next June 16th is the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, the day Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus took their epic journeys through Dublin, as told in James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses.
Yesterday, ReJoyce Dublin 2004, a celebration of the anniversary, was launched by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, in the Guinness Storehouse.
Although Bloomsday is a single day, a five-month-long festival will take place in the city between April 1st and August 31st.
The festival will feature a range of exhibitions, street theatre, music programmes and family fun. Altogether, more than 50 events are planned.
The Minister said: "It is appropriate that we should be launching ReJoyce Dublin 2004 today. February 2nd is Joyce's birthday.
"It might seem strange to people that we would create a major festival to celebrate a day like Bloomsday, but the fact is that Joyce and Ulysses are known and loved by people throughout the world, and many thousands will travel here between now and next June to celebrate this special day. Joyce is one of our greatest cultural ambassadors."
Ms Laura Weldon, national co-ordinator for ReJoyce Dublin 2004, said:"We were very conscious in developing the programme that there should be something for everyone in this unique celebration, and I believe we have achieved that."