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ROADMAP YOUR ROOTS ARE SHOWING Ireland’s biggest
international folk, Americana and trad music conference happens from 14 January to 18 as the worlds’ brightest minds of the field come together at the ICC in Belfast to decide the future of trad music. Grammy-winning artists, festival architects, cultural strategists, rights specialists and global industry leaders present the most ambitious program to date. Ticket prices range from €22 for only the showcase night pass to €150 for the full experience and can be purchased on the Showing Roots website. Speakers/performers include Amy Grant, Crystal Gayle, Rissi Palmer, Ron Block, Paddy Keenan, Gerry O’Connor, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Linda Coogan Byrne (Why Not Her?), Maria Theessink (Tønder Festival), Ben Mandelson (WOMEX), Matt Bartlett (Midnight Mango), Joan Crump (Hartlepool Folk Festival), Lisa Schwartz (Alchemy Arts), Matthew Morgan (UTA Nashville) many more who shape the global music ecosystem. www.showingroots.com BRIGIT Get crafty with the fifth edition of Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women from Friday 30th January to Monday 2nd February 2026. Ahead of this year’s celebrations, the festival unveils a brand new, eye-catching, limitededition collection of merchandise, inspired by Brigit and designed by creative Irish artist duo Jill & Gill, renowned for their bold ideas and use of vibrant colour while blending traditional techniques with contemporary twists. This next year’s event includes an enriching pool of workshops, talks, performances, walks, screenings and family events around the theme of women’s stories and their cultural impact past and present. The full program is to be announced in early January. dublin.ie for details. Merch is available to purchase here: www.everpress. com/profile/brigit THE SWEETNESS OF LEMONS DUBLIN NIGHTS MAPPED This looks fantastic! Dublin’s newest activity map – Dublin Nights Mapped – launches on January 8th and it looks like a vital go-to. This digital map promotes nighttime activities you can do after 6 pm, from late night cafés over cultural spaces to free nighttime sports. Almost a hundred locations in total are featured, mostly non-drinking-focused activities but although the map isn’t anti-drinking at all, it does aim to create an inclusive and varied offer. Supported by the Department of Culture, Communication and Sports, this list was curated by the Dublin City Council’s NightTime Economy Advisor Ray O’Donoghue and is available on G Maps. There is something for everyone here; creative activities like knitting or pottery, indoor golfing or nighttime exhibitions. Dublin city is a great place after dark so this is the perfect guide to all its activities. 6 TAVARES STRACHAN Trinity East Campus features Bahamian artist’s Tavares Strachan’s intriguing sculpture portraits of legendary American abolitionist and social rights activist Harriet Tubman and Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey until 1 June 2026. The pure size of the sculptures alone is impressive, as if the pure attempt of displaying their social achievements is literally towering anything else around it. Strachan is renowned for his intersections of art, politics, science and displaying cultural dynamics of scientific knowledge. His display in Trinity launches a ten-year program which brings international art into Dublin’s public and displays outstanding art for everyone free to explore. Lemon’s Pure Sweets has been a part of the Irish landscape for almost 200 years. Started in the 1840s by Armagh-born Graham Lemon, the brand epitomised quality above all else. While two families – the Lemons and the Tates – dominated the running of the company for most of its history, the mantra of exceptional quality and purity remained throughout. This book tells the fascinating story of the Lemon family, who achieved great wealth and fortune during his life- time. He would come to own and lease multiple properties in prime locations in Dublin city centre, and as he owned most of the property on Little Grafton Street, off Grafton Street, it was renamed Lemon Street in his honour in 1871. The book is a fascinating trawl through family feuds and dodgy business decisions played against the background of the famine, the Easter rising and the emergence of Dublin as a capital city of prestige and poverty.