A Very Irish Event Round Up
I went to Poland last week and discovered that they really like cabbage and building chandeliers out of salt.
Unfortunately, on the first day of my trip, the rich cultural legacy of the eastern European city I visited was reduced, in my view, to a few pierogi.
This was a result of my travel fatigue making me act like a grumpus, but it made me think about how I would want my homeland to come across to those planning to or thinking about visiting it.
With that, I wanted to share a uniquely Irish event round up to show that there’s more to my own people than eating raw potatoes after six pints*:
From Our Past…
Achill Harp Festival
The last two times I saw a harp were on the Guinness Brewery gates and on the tail fin of a Ryanair plane, so I’m glad to present a somewhat more glamorous place to find them.
Achill Island
ICYMI, the harp is the national symbol of Ireland. With that, comes its place in legend.
The Achill Harp Festival is being celebrated around Halloween (or Samhain if you’re feeling particularly Celtic), a time at which folklore tells us fairy kings would come to the seat of the Irish King, play their harps to put that King’s court to sleep, and then set fire to his dwellings.
In celebration of that tradition, the Achill Harp Festival will be nothing like that.
Situated on the dreamy island pictured above, this event welcomes players, makers, and listeners across three days.
Dates: October 27-30 2017
… to Our Future
Dublin Is…
The focus of this conference is to showcase Ireland’s contribution to global tech. The event takes place over two days in the Convention Centre in Dublin and will boast over 30 talks.
Ireland has been the 9th most charitable country in the world for the past two years, which Dublin Is… intends on reflecting.
There’s a particular focus at the conference on giving back to the community. In an interview with Irish Tech News, Tammy (the organizer) gave a nod to the charitable events that will be intertwined with the agenda.
Dates: March 8-9 2018
Digital Week 2017
While we’re on the topic of generosity, there may be no such thing as a free lunch, but free talks fill the belly of the mind.
Three Ireland are producing a series of talks in their Dublin office from insightful players on the scene.
From the outset, it looks like the presentations will be best suited to designers and marketers, but for a full breakdown of what’s on offer, you can click here.
Dates: October 2-6 2017
*We’re not actually silly enough as a nation to eat raw potatoes and can prove it with the clever research and interviews we’ll be writing in the future, which you can subscribe to here: