Tall ships, backflips and hurley sticks

It's a weekend for culture lovers and sports fans willing to brave the Irish weather to attend festivals and sporting events over the coming days.

The Kilkenny Arts Festival continues this weekend, with classical music from the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and street theatre with Keystone Kops among the events taking place before the festival draws to a close on Sunday. Author Thomas Kilroy will be interviewed by Fintan O'Toole on the final day of the festival, with traditional music and contemporary dance at Kilkenny Castle from the Rex Levitates Dance Company. Low will also be playing at St Canice's Cathedral with support from Adrian Crowley.

Further north, Belfast will the final port in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge 2009 as part of the city's maritime festival this weekend.

Organisers are estimating that up to 140,000 people may have visited the festival on the first day, with the event on target for half a million in its four days. A high turnout is expected for the Parade of Sail on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, sporting showdowns are taking place throughout the country as the hurling championships draw to a close.

Croke Park in Dublin will play host on Sunday to the penultimate battle between Tipperary and Limerick in the GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Championship semi final, which takes place at 3.30pm, while Waterford will take on Galway in the minor championship match at the earlier time of 1.30pm.

Elsewhere, Dublin play Down in the GAA Football All Ireland Minor Championship Quarter Final at Breffni Park tomorrow at 4pm, and Fermanagh will play Tyrone in the GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor 'C' Championship Final at 2.15pm.

Armagh will play Westmeath in the ESB GAA Hurling All Ireland Minor 'B' Championship Semi Finals in Drogheda tomorrow at 3.30pm.

Thousands of people are expected to descend on Athlone tomorrow and Sunday for the finals of the Community Games. Spread over two weekends, organisers are expecting up to 14,000 people over both weekends to see young people compete in events such as swimming, gymnastics, tennis, soccer and GAA football. Main events are scheduled to take place at the Athlone IT, with a larger crowd predicted for next weekend.

Elsewhere, the Tour de Munster charity cycle, which got underway yesterday, will continue until Sunday. Eighty cyclists are due to arrive back at the Silversprings hotel in Tivoli in Cork, where the tour began. before spending four days travelling through the six counties of Munster.

Cyclists are setting out from from Castlegregory tomorrow at about 10am before travelling through Dingle, Castlemaine, Milltown, Killarney, Kenmare and finishing at Lauragh at 5.30pm. On Sunday the event will move to Cork City, ending at the Silversprings Hotel in Tivoli in Cork City at 5.15pm.

Motorists in the area should expect traffic delays on some routes.