For music fans there can only be one place to go this weekend - and that’s Punchestown Racecourse in Co Kildare for the Oxegen festival.
Arcade Fire, Jay Z and Groove Armada are among the host of acts taking to the stage tonight for the first full day of music.
Tomorrow’s highlights include Muse and the Black Eyed Peas, while Sunday’s line-up features Eminem, The Prodigy and Broken Social Scene.
Met Éireann has warned that more persistent rain will spread this evening, while the outlook for tomorrow and Sunday suggests revellers on site will get good value if the invest in a pair of wellies for Ireland’s largest festival.
With approximately 35,000 people expected to head to the three-day festival today expect traffic to be heavy in the area.
Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are offering special services from the capital to the festival all weekend departing from Parnell Square West and the Customs House Quay respectively. A return ticket costs €20 for both operators.
Services from Cork depart Parnell Place bus station and serve Fermoy, Mitchelstown, and Cahir with the return service leaving Punchestown on Monday at midday.
Kelly Travel is providing an hourly bus service from Limerick departing from the Parkway roundabout on the Dublin road. The picking-up of dropping-off point for festival goers is Goffs off the N7 at Junction 8 near Johnstown. From there a free shuttle bus will take revellers to the festival site.
Elsewhere, the sixth annual Kinsale Arts Week starts tomorrow and runs until July 18th. The programme features everything from local to international works in a mix of mediums such as visual arts, theatre, music, literature, film, dance and others.
Highlights for this year’s week include Camille O'Sullivan, Après Match, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Joseph O'Connor and La Locandiera.
For the barnacles among you, Cork Week running from tomorrow until July 16th is taking place in Crosshaven.
Hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world, the event features a week of competitive sailing and plenty of entertainment landside for those without sea legs.
The Galway Film Fleadh, now in its 22nd year, draws to a close on Sunday. There are still plenty of features and short films to catch before Oren Moverman's The Messenger, a tale of a US soldier returning from Iraq, closes the festival on Sunday night.
The Clonmel Junction Festival also finishes up this weekend. Caroline Moreau and The Café Chantant Choir entertain the crowd tonight with a repertoire French chanson classics. Stand-up comedian Neil Delamere will provide the laughs tomorrow. Other events include family favourites Fossett’s Circus hosting shows all weekend and a rubber ring race down the River Suir tomorrow.
Finally, for those interested in football there’s not much point in watching the World Cup now that Paul the oracle octopus has tipped Spain to beat Holland in Sunday’s final after earlier selecting Germany ahead of Uruguay in tomorrow’s third and fourth place play-off.
