JAMES GIBBONSflags some highlights of the year ahead
JANUARY
Although the National Gallery of Ireland, in Dublin, is undergoing refurbishment, it is still open. Tomorrow sees the opening of the watercolour exhibition Turner: A Light in the Darkness, which continues until the end of January. Adrian Le Harivel is giving a free public lecture tomorrow at 3pm on Turner's sketchbooks and the Vaughan Bequest.
FEBRUARY
Al Pacino is due to attend the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which begins on February 16th and runs for 10 days. He's over for the Irish premiere of his latest documentary, Wilde Salome. This year the festival organisers plan to screen about 130 feature films. A full programme will be unveiled in early February.
The Irish Film and Television Awards (Iftas) will take place on Saturday, February 11th, at Convention Centre Dublin. The Iftas are open to all Irish people working in the film and television industries.
The Phil, at Trinity College Dublin, has two interesting confirmed guests set to tread the cobblestones. The US politician Nancy Pelosi is due to address the society in February, and the actor Hugh Laurie is expected in spring.
MARCH
Sir James Galway makes a return to the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Sunday, March 18th, to perform a programme of Irish music for St Patrick’s weekend. Joining him will be the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, under conductor David Brophy, and soprano Ailish Tynan.
APRIL
Next year’s Punchestown Festival, in Co Kildare, takes place from Tuesday, April 24th, to Saturday, April 28th. The five-day National Hunt festival is seen as an Irish version of Cheltenham.
MAY
The former couturier Ib Jorgensen will be the subject of a retrospective at the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts History, at Collins Barracks in Dublin. About 60 items have already been gathered together, including some from Anne Heseltine and the Countess of Rosse.
On Sunday, May 27th, John Malkovich will star in The Infernal Comedyat the National Concert Hall, in Dublin. A stage play for a baroque orchestra with two sopranos and one actor, it recounts the life of Jack Unterweger (Malkovich), the Austrian writer and serial killer, through music and drama. The music includes pieces by Mozart, Vivaldi, Boccherini, Gluck, Haydn and Weber.
JUNE
It’s a good job that roads are being repaired in the centre of the capital, as Bavaria City Racing Dublin kicks off on June 3rd. There will be demonstrations by drivers and cars from the top rank of racing, including the former world champion Jenson Button and his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car. Don’t be surprised if 150,000 spectators turn up on the day.
Taste of Dublin has become one of the highlights of June. It features some of the city’s finest restaurants, with chefs cooking up a storm for thousands of foodies over four days in the Iveagh Gardens.
JULY
Despite the demise of the Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway Races, there is still fun to be had on the Ballybrit racetrack. Next year the event will run from Monday, July 30th, to Sunday, August 5th. Nearly 150,000 people attended this year.
Galway will host up to five days of in-port racing and festivities at the end of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-2012. The prestigious round-the-world sailing contest began at Alicante, in Spain, on October 28th; the final leg will leave Lorient, in France, on July 1st. It is expected to arrive in Galway on Tuesday, July 3rd.
AUGUST
The 2012 Dublin Horse Show will take place next year from August 15th to 19th at the RDS, where the best show horses and international showjumpers compete for honours. This is one of Ireland’s summer highlights, each year welcoming tens of thousands of people from Ireland and around the world.
SEPTEMBER
The annual Antiques Fair of the Irish Antique Dealers Association, at the RDS, is a must for anyone with even a passing interest in antiques.
OCTOBER
Dublin Theatre Festival, which starts in the last few days of September, will be the dominant cultural event for the first half of the month. (It ends on October 14th.) New artistic director Willie White has a tough act to follow after this year’s groundbreaking festival.
NOVEMBER
The popular tenor Andrea Bocelli, with orchestra and choir, will play the O2 in Dublin on November 6th. It will be his first Irish appearance since two sellout concerts in 2006.
DECEMBER
Tchaikovsky Perm State Ballet will perform The Nutcrackerat the Grand Canal Theatre, in Dublin, on December 5th, 6th and 9th. It is one of the most prestigious companies in the world; alumni include Galina Ragozina-Panova, Galina Shlyapina and Nadezhda Pavlova.
