EVENT: CORK JAZZ FESTIVAL
The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival returns this October Bank Holiday Weekend for its 47th edition, lighting up the city with over 500 musicians across 100 events in nearly 80 venues, with free pop-up gigs aplenty. From jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop, reggae, and world sounds, the eclectic lineup includes Lee Fields and The Expressions, Orchestra Baobab, Saul Williams, Rejjie Snow, Cymande and Maverick Sabre. It's going to be a vibe (Various venues, Cork City, 23rd – 27th Oct)
EVENT: MACNAS HALLOWEEN PARADE
Macnas returns to the streets of their native Galway city with their Halloween parade - this year's theme is An Treun – The Summoning Of The Lost, inspired by a forgotten Bram Stoker tale and the haunting call of the vanished Corncrake, it's a shape-shifting spectacle promising folklore, magic, and mischief. Directed by Louise Lowe with designs by Owen Boss of ANU Productions, the parade blends myth, memory, and nature - if you can't make it to Galway, it all happens again in Dublin for the Bram Stoker Festival on the evening of November 2nd (Galway City, Sunday, October 26th, from 5.30pm)
🧿AN TREUN – The Summoning of the Lost
— Macnas (@Macnas) October 6, 2025
🎃Galway Parade – Sunday, 26th October at 5:30pm
An Treun is a spectacular, shape-shifting parade inspired by a long-lost tale by Dracula author Bram Stoker and the haunting call of the vanished Corncrake.
Details: https://t.co/BXpZYhMoqA pic.twitter.com/sOH78KceOw
EVENT: HAUNTED DANCEHALL
Voted an Irish Times Festival of the Year in 2022 and 2023, this one-day convergence of world-builders, sonic visionaries, and boundary-breakers. Haunted Dancehall 2025 brings together some of the most vital and imaginative voices in contemporary electronic and experimental music. From seismic low-end dub to meditative jazz, lo-fi folk to ambient soundscapes, the lineup features artists working at the very edge of genre — including The Bug, Róis, Shabaka, Andy Stott, Joanne Robertson, Elaine Howley, Milan W. and more (National Concert Hall, Dublin, Saturday 25 October)
BOOK: ANIMALOPEDIA
The latest super-sized volume from the creators of Irelandopedia, Historopedia and Focloiropedia (2017) and explores Ireland's animals by habitat, the myths and legends associated with them, favourite folklore superstitions and famous real-life Irish dogs, horses and dolphins, amongst others! Young readers will be totally absorbed by Kathi Burke's detailed illustrations and her father John's fabulous facts. From selkies and merrows to swans and salmon, from wolfhounds and elks to racehorses and greyhounds - there's so much to learn in this Animalopedia of all things Irish! (Out now, Gill Books)
MUSIC: BANAT AL-QUDS
Experience the powerful voices of Banat al-Quds, an all-female Palestinian choir from Jerusalem, as they perform in Dublin, Limerick, and Belfast. Formed by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, the choir blends classical Arab music with original compositions celebrating Palestinian heritage. Led by composer Suhail Khoury, their music expresses pain, pride, and resilience. Presented by rare performances are a moving act of cultural resistance and solidarity, connecting Irish and Palestinian communities through music. Present by Irish Artists for Palestine, catch them live at the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire on 26th October, University Concert Hall, Limerick on 28th October and Whitla Hall, Belfast on 30th October
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