A barbershop chorus is charming the crowds on a doorstep just yards away from where a troupe of disco dancers from Tallaght are high-kicking for Ireland. There is basket weaving and a big wheel. Irish dancers and samba soccer; The diversity of the St Patrick's festival has never been more evident than it was at the Big Day Out in Merrion Square yesterday.
There were bouncy castles as far as the eye could see. Street theatre on every corner. On a giant stage Darius of Popstars fame thrilled the teenyboppers while fiddlers and accordionists sated the musical appetites of those with more traditional tastes.
Nobody could quite believe it but the sun was shining across the square. People in sunglasses were walking around with bags of snack bars and sweets that had been handed out free by sponsors. Happy St Patrick's Day from such and such a cereal company, they said. This is the eighth year of the new, improved festival, but most of us can still remember a time when it consisted of a lacklustre parade and a hooley down the pub. A time when the world celebrated our national day with more panache than we did.
Not anymore. These days Irish dancers and musicians aren't just for St Patrick's Day so they were popping up over the city yesterday as part of the 12 bells event.
These days, you get surprised, by a youth group bursting with talent performing a stunning variety show in the middle of the street. The Five Star group from St Andrew's Resource Centre in Dublin cracked up the crowds with their Crimeline skit.
"All the toilets have been stolen from the Bridewell," said one straight faced youngster with a microphone. "Gardaí say they have nothing to go on." Three young boys wore padded police outfits and had the crowd in stitches with their rendition of The Laughing Policeman. It was a kind of You're A Star with personality.
Another highlight was the silent disco where participants listened to music on headphones and strutted their stuff to the amusement of onlookers. Two-year-olds did the conga with teenagers, while their parents looked approvingly on. "I think I might try this the next time my daughter wants to have a party," said impressed father Niall Maher from Co Dublin.
The treasure hunt on Saturday sent several hundred participants on an exhausting trawl of the city, taking in everything from the National Gallery to the Civic Museum to Smithfield and Collins Barracks. And the fireworks on Saturday evening, while they didn't wow everyone, drew tens of thousands to watch. Those who had wangled invites to the corporate events organised around Skyfest spent the duration sipping champagne in penthouse apartments with river views, but on the streets peoples were hemmed in by restrictions which some thought unnecessary.
Motorists were forced to make detours but so too were pedestrians. It was virtually impossible to traverse the city-centre on foot - crowds were corralled onto the path on O'Connell Street while the road itself was completely car-free.
"It was like the Nanny state had taken over, the restrictions were completely excessive," said one observer who didn't want to be named. "People were stuck down side roads and it seemed as though the gardaí were taking the restrictions to farcical levels."
Some felt from the scale of the display that it was apparent that slightly less was spent on the Skyfest this year (€380,000, compared to around €395,000 in 2002) but there was no denying the magic of the occasion. Dubbed The Celestial Jig, the display by French fire artists Groupe 4 began with two boats blowing fiery plumes as they moved across the water in the manner of a Viking funeral.
Two-year-old Mella Ruadh from Phibsboro caught the mood perfectly. "Oh my God," she said as each spectacular explosion lit up the sky.