ST PATRICK’S Day may be over but the festivities are continuing over the weekend.
The annual Skyfest fireworks display takes place in Wexford this year with the spectacle set to begin at 6.28pm precisely this evening on Wexford Quays.
The highlight will be a pyrotechnic waterfall that will produce a 300m wide curtain of cascading silver fire, the largest of its kind ever seen in Ireland.
In Dublin, the fun fair and carnival continue at Merrion Square and tomorrow the Big Day Out offers a celebration of Irish street arts at the same venue.
A literary treasure hunt is on at City Hall today with participants invited to discover Dublin’s rich literary heritage while competing for prizes.
To accommodate the event, Castle Street will be closed from 9am to 5pm.
One of the country's most accomplished musicians, Sharon Shannon, will be presenting an evening of traditional music at the National Concert Hall this evening, while the 20th anniversary reunion concert from the cast of the 1991 movie The Commitmentstakes place at the O2 venue.
The recent winners of the Choice Music Prize Album of 2010 award, Two Door Cinema Club, are performing at the Olympia Theatre tonight.
Other acts appearing over the weekend include prog-rockers Jethro Tull and indie act The Wombats in Dublin, and Enrique Iglesias in Belfast.
The Grand Canal Theatre celebrates its first birthday this weekend with the Russian State Ballet, which will be performing Giselletonight and Swan Laketomorrow.
Elsewhere, the International Band Parade in Limerick will take place tomorrow from midday to 2pm.
Up to 3,000 people are expected to attend the St Patrick’s Festival 5K Road Race, which takes place from midday in Dublin tomorrow.
The race will start on Dawson Street, before continuing on to St Stephen’s Green North, Merrion Row, Baggot Street, around Fitzwilliam Square and on to Herbert Street, Herbert Place, Leeson Street Bridge, Grand Canal, Adelaide Road, Earlsfort Terrace, around St Stephen’s Green and finishing up again on Dawson Street.
To accommodate this event Dawson Street will be closed from 10am to 1pm. At midday gardaí will implement rolling road closures along the route of the parade.
Staying on the sporting front, Ireland take on England in the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium today in a game which kicks off at 5pm. There is also racing at Gowran Racecourse in Co Kilkenny today and at Mallow and the Curragh tomorrow, and plenty of GAA action as well.
For those looking to get away from it all the Mind Body Spirit exhibition is on at the RDS until Sunday and delays can be expected through Ballsbridge and Sandymount as a result.
Met Éireann is forecasting a mixed weekend. Rain will spread from the southwest today, leading to scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle in the evening.
After a dull start tomorrow, most areas will become brighter and mostly dry, with maximum temperatures increasing to between 11 and 15 degrees.
