International and indigenous culture will be celebrated around the country this weekend, and the sun finally seems ready to co-operate, writes Bríd Higgins Ní Chinnéide.
The Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures was launched yesterday with the colourful spectacle of A Wedding in Khorezm in the Pavillion Theatre. It involved a 35-member cast of musicians and dancers from Uzbekistan.
An array of events will take place in Dún Laoghaire today and tomorrow, celebrating the cultures of 80 different countries. Highlights include a projection and sound performance called Façade Art of Noise by multi-media artist Emilio Arteaga and Mongolian throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak, outside the Royal Marine Hotel at 10pm.
There will also be a performance by 18 drummers from the Burundi community in Ireland at the Harbour Plaza at 4pm and 5pm.
Irish music and dance will be celebrated at the 56th annual Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The event will feature more than 10,000 performers and is expected to draw a crowd of 250,000.
It began yesterday with the world's biggest music session, with almost 2,500 musicians playing seven sets ranging from jigs to mazurkas. Another first for the fleadh will be the All-Ireland Céilí Band final, set to take place in the Church of the Assumption at 8pm on Sunday.
Music acquires a southern twang in the sunny southeast over the weekend with the 13th Dunmore East International Bluegrass Festival that runs until Sunday.
The line-up includes the Jeff and Vida Band from New Orleans and the Boxcar Preachers, whose stage persona mirrors the escaped prisoners from the film O Brother Where Art Thou. All of the gigs are free and they take place in six venues around the seaside town.
The main sporting event of the week will be tomorrow's All-Ireland football semi-final, with Dublin meeting Kerry in front of a full house at Croke Park in what promises to be an exhilarating battle to see who will meet Cork in the final on September 16th.
Over 100 professional cyclists are taking part in the Tour of Ireland cycle race, which finishes tomorrow in Merrion Square in Dublin. Today's 232km stage traversing Mayo and Galway is the most difficult part of the 864km race and it is likely to decide the overall outcome of the tour.
Marlay Park in Dublin hosts two big gigs this weekend. Singer-songwriter Damien Rice and British rock group Kaiser Chiefs top the line-up for today and tomorrow respectively. The Budrising event is expected to be one of the few outdoor music events without rain this summer.