City of Dublin Winter Solstice Festival

City of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival 2018

Press Release                                                                                                   November 2018

Smashing Times and Slí an Chroí, in partnership with Dublin Institute of Technology, are delighted to announce the 9th annual City of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival taking place on Friday 21 December 2018 from 4 to 7pm.

Where:                        DIT Grangegorman Campus to Smithfield Square

When:                          21 December 2018

                                    Indoor Festival: 4-5.30pm

                                    Outdoor Festival and Parade: 5.30-7pm 

Indoor Festival:  4-5.30pm at DIT Grangegorman Campus

The gathering begins. All are welcome to come and enjoy a spectacular Céilí featuring traditional Irish dancing and music, storytelling performances, poetry readings, face painting and craft making to work on masks, banners and wreaths for the parade. 

Outdoor Festival and Parade: 5.30-7pm, An Croí, DIT Grangegorman Campus to Smithfield Square

Parade assembles at 5.30pm and starts at 5.40pm, moving from DIT Grangegorman Campus to Smithfield Square and culminates in the Winter Solstice Fire Ceremony.  All activities are free.

Young and old are invited to take part in this year’s magical parade which honours the Winter Solstice on December 21, marking the shortest day of the year which is celebrated worldwide across a range of cultures. This family festival is a colourful gathering of local communities with national and international visitors celebrating the Winter Solstice, bringing together céilí dancing, traditional storytelling, poetry and craft making with the processional parade culminating in a powerful and moving collective fire ceremony in Dublin’s Smithfield Square. The celebration invites everyone to take part in this inclusive gathering of people of all ethnicities and cultures through costuming, drumming, parading, flag carrying and being a participant in the Winter Solstice Fire Ceremony, the traditional climax on Smithfield Square. 

Come and gather with us on the darkest day, step into the warmth of the indoor festival for storytelling, poetry recitals, a céilí, face painting, music and craft making. Meet with The Sun Queen and Snow Princesses, place your withies in the flame, join us in the colourful drum led parade to Smithfield Square and be there as we raise our fire to the world in a roaring climactic moment. Bring warm, colourful clothes to wear for the parade. Red and yellow colours are preferable. Please also feel free to carry your own battery operated lanterns, or a drum or rattle if you have one. Come and welcome the return of the light on this festive and magical night for family and friends to enjoy. The City Of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival 2018 is a family friendly, participatory and inclusive festival.

For further information please visit the Smashing Times website or contact the Smashing Times office on info@smashingtimes.ie or call us on +353 (0) 1 865 6613

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