Greetings from 1691
Saturday at The Crescent runs from chalk drawings on the street through a communal long-table dinner to open-air opera, all free.
Sunday brings a clown orchestra, Dolans has a Garth Brooks tribute on Friday, a Thin Lizzy tribute on Saturday and two founding members of Megadeth on Sunday.
Then there is storytelling at the Hunt Museum, a 10K through Curraghchase, and The 502s close things out on Tuesday.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Summer in the City: The Crescent Weekend
Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August · The Crescent
The whole of Saturday at The Crescent is free and it escalates properly. Chalkfest starts at one, turning the street into a drawing surface for anyone who wants it. At six the Long Table goes down the middle of the road and strangers sit and eat together, which is a simple idea that Irish cities almost never attempt. At seven the Limerick Opera Festival closes the day with Open Air Aria, live arias outdoors until nine. Sunday belongs to the Irish National Clown Orchestra of Ireland, who play One Step Beyond three times, at one, four and six. None of it costs anything.
Kings of Thrash
Sunday 30 August · 20:00 · Dolan's Warehouse
David Ellefson and Jeff Young were both in Megadeth for the records that mattered, and Kings of Thrash exists to play that eighties material the way it was written rather than the way it later got polished. Bad Reputation are presenting it. A Sunday night thrash show in the Warehouse is an odd proposition on paper and exactly the right one in practice, because the people who want this really want it. Over-18s only.
The 502s
Tuesday 1 September · 20:00 · Dolan's
Orlando's five-piece deal in banjo-driven beach folk and an amount of joy that should be irritating and somehow is not. The Nonsense All Night tour lands in Limerick with Armagh songwriter Odhran Murphy opening, the night after they play Cork. Dolans on a Tuesday for a band this relentlessly upbeat is a good way to start September.
Limerick Wind Ensemble
Tuesday 25 August · 20:00 · All Saints Church, Castleconnell
Mozart and Krommer chamber works in a church in Castleconnell, opening the autumn concert series. Wind chamber music is written for exactly this kind of room and sounds thin anywhere larger. Eight o'clock, and Castleconnell is fifteen minutes out the Dublin road.
Limerick Sound
Friday 28 August · 17:00 · Steamboat Quay
Free live music on Steamboat Quay at five in the evening, with the Shannon doing the scenery. Part of the Summer in the City programme, and one of the better spots in the city for an early-evening set. Bring something to sit on.
Friends in Low Places
Friday 28 August · 20:00 · Dolan's
Trevor Smith and a seven-piece band doing Garth Brooks, which in Ireland is less a tribute act than a public service. Seven players means the arrangements are done properly rather than approximated on two guitars. You know within about four bars whether this is your night.
Thin Az Lizzy
Saturday 29 August · 20:00 · Dolan's
The twin-guitar sound is the whole test with a Thin Lizzy tribute, and it either locks together or the entire thing falls apart in the first chorus. Thin Az Lizzy have been at it long enough to get it right. In a country where everyone has an opinion about Phil Lynott, this crowd will be a tough audience and a generous one.
Mamma Mia: The Live Experience
Saturday 29 August · 13:30 · Radisson Blu Hotel
Abba songs performed live in a hotel function room on a Saturday afternoon, which is a format that either commits fully or dies of embarrassment. Half one start, so it doesn't eat the evening. Go in the right frame of mind.
Twilight Thursday
Thursday 27 August · From 17:00 · Venues across the city
The city's monthly late-opening night, with live music, food, family activities and shops and galleries staying open past five. It has quietly become the best evening of the month to be in town without a plan. Wander and see what is open.
Twilight Tales by the Limerick Fireside
Thursday 27 August · 17:00 · Captains' Room, Hunt Museum
David Collopy tells Limerick legends, history, music and verse in the Captains' Room, which is a small enough space that storytelling works the way it is meant to. Oral history delivered by someone who does it properly is a different thing to reading it. Family-friendly, five o'clock.
The Invite
Monday 31 August · 17:00 · Belltable
Olivia Wilde's 2026 film at the Belltable as part of the IFI's programme there, which brings Dublin's arthouse booking to O'Connell Street. A five o'clock bank holiday Monday screening is a civilised way to end a long weekend. One night only.
Flavours Without Borders
Wednesday 26 August · 12:00 · The Crescent
Food from Limerick's migrant communities cooked and served by the people who grew up eating it, which is a considerably better proposition than any restaurant version of the same thing. Midday at The Crescent, part of the Limerick Says Welcome programme. Go hungry.
Curragh-Chase 10K
Saturday 29 August · 11:00 · Curraghchase Forest Park
A chip-timed 10K through Curraghchase woodland and the old estate parkland, open to walkers as well as runners, with refreshments at the finish. Curraghchase is one of the best places in the county to spend a morning on foot regardless of pace. Eleven o'clock start from Kilcornan Community Centre.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Limerick check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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