7 things to do this week
TODAY To mark World Food Day tomorrow, Ocras, the charity for international food and development aid, is encouraging people to raise money for malnourished and starving people around the world by taking part in a 24-hour fast. You can choose any 24-hour period between today and Tuesday; you can also buy a wristband around Dublin today and tomorrow featuring the words "Tá ocras orthu" (they are hungry). Contact 01-4169430 or hazel@ocras.ie.
TOMORROW It's world-music night at Sunday Roast, the weekly club at Bia Bar, on Lower Stephen Street, Dublin. Two musical outfits with an international flavour, Rastafenians and EarthQuake Hair, top the bill. The usual assortment of games and free roast potatoes will also be on hand. 7pm. Admission free.
MONDAY Lorna Luft's career in showbiz spans more than 35 years, but she will always be most famous simply for being Judy Garland's daughter. Her new show, Lorna Luft: Songs My Mother Taught Me, embraces her roots, mixing one of the world's most hummable songbooks with moving memories of her mother. The show runs at the Pavilion Theatre, in Dún Laoghaire, until Saturday. Tickets €27.50/€22 from 01-2312929 or www.paviliontheatre.ie.
TUESDAY Leviathan, the country's only political cabaret, gets straight to the point this month, asking participants: "Who should form the next government, and why?" Providing the answers are political representatives including the Green Party's John Gormley, Sinn Féin's Arthur Morgan, Labour's Kathleen Lynch and Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews. David McWilliams will be making sure the debate doesn't get out of hand, while punk/folk troubadour Jinx Lennon offers his take on politics, power and, er, energy vampires. Doors 9pm, CrawDaddy, Harcourt Street, Dublin. Tickets €20 from Ticketmaster and on the door.
WEDNESDAY Movie fans should go west this week, for Cinema Days in Galway. Today the films being shown include In Her Shoes (10.30am), Pavee Lackeen (12.30pm) and The World's Fastest Indian (4.30pm). There is also a short talk by the film censor, John Kelleher, at 4.15pm. It all takes place at the Eye Cinema, on Harbour Road, and it continues tomorrow.
THURSDAY "Few new Irish bands arrive as seemingly perfect as The Rags," says one critic, so you could do worse then head to Temple Bar Music Centre, in Dublin, to see them in action. Tonight sees the Wall of Fame Celebration of Irish Music, and The Rags will be supporting Turn and a "very special guests". The concert follows the unveiling by Dave Fanning of 12 Irish music legends featured on the new Wall of Fame on Temple Lane. Doors 7.30pm.Tickets €20 from Ticketmaster.
FRIDAY The Belfast Festival at Queen's University begins tonight with a concert by Marianne Faithful and the Ulster Orchestra. The original 1960s rock chick will perform classics from her career, as well as songs from her latest album, Before the Poison, at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Other events over the opening weekend of the festival include a street procession, a talk by Robert Fisk and comedy from Harry Hill. More from www.belfastfestival.com.
