The Department’s International Cultural Policy Unit will highlight their work to preserve and enshrine Ireland’s intangible cultural heritage through hands-on demonstrations of uileann piping and reed-making, as well as fascinating expositions of dry stone wall construction, Limerick lacemaking and Irish Traveller traditions.

More highlights include:

Harvest Knot Demonstration – Join the Education Department of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life and learn how to make a Harvest Knot. Harvest knots are knots of woven straw that were made as part of the harvest celebration. As the year’s crop had to be drawn in by hand, the farmers would put on a dance as a thank you to the all the community who had helped during this busy time of year. Guests wore harvest knots. Usually, they were made in two types: an elaborate braid with the corn ears still attached which was worn by the women and a less ornamental twist which was made for the men. People sometimes exchanged these knots as tokens of affection. Women wore them in their hair and men attached them to clothes on their chest.

Screen Ireland will be offering a short Virtual Reality (VR) demonstration for visitors to the marquee. The VR experience will comprise of a short 5-minute demonstration using a dedicated VR headset and motion sensing controllers. Participants will have the opportunity to use this hardware to explore a range of immersive experiences in an artificially generated audio-visual environment.

Get ready for Her Moves, an initiative by Sport Ireland aimed at inspiring teenage girls to get active and embrace sports! Swing by the Her Moves area to explore a range of sports opportunities designed just for girls. Don’t miss the interactive Dance Pound Fit session on stage, where you can groove to the beat and discover how exciting staying active can be. It’s all about having fun and finding your movement!

Badminton Ireland is bringing the excitement to the main stage with two thrilling stations! First, watch an electrifying exhibition featuring top players, showcasing the incredible speed and skill of badminton in a 10-15 minute match. Then, enjoy interactive target practice with cut-outs of high-performance players. Test your accuracy as shuttles fly at the targets and see who can hit the mark. It’s a fun and dynamic way to experience the game!

This practical and accessible session with a professional animator will offer visitors a glimpse into the creative workflow and processes that go into creating your favourite cartoons on film and TV. Participants will get a quick introduction to the key principles of animation and how animators bring static 2D drawings to life on screen. Under the guidance of an instructor, participants will create their own animated flipbooks using simple hand-drawn sketches.

Performances

The folks from Donegal are very talented, and are kindly coming along to demonstrate both pipes and one of Scotland’s most cherished dance forms – Highland Dance. Discover how this ancient war-dance differs from traditional Irish dancing and see these terrific dancers showcase the modern, sophisticated dance.

North County Dublin (Fingal) has a long and continuous tradition of Mumming. Each character has his/her own particular traditional rhyme. The Fingal mummers will take to the stage to give audiences a live performance which includes playing music and dancing masked and dressed in their straw costumes.

Andy will demonstrate, and talk about, the variety of instruments he brings along. This is one not to be missed.