Bram Stoker Festival: Dublin, Ireland

If you have a trip planned to Dublin, Ireland during the last week of October, you are in for a treat! ‘Tis the season for ghosts, ghouls and goblins, but when you combine that with a celebration of the story of Dracula and author, Bram Stoker, you get an experience like no other. Take a peek into what the Bram Stoker Festival is all about.

FEATURED EVENTS

STRICTLY COME VAMPIRE
Secret Venue

An immersive multi-sensory event for thrill-seekers, music fans and discerning night-owls, concieved and created by one of Ireland’s most creative party planners, Mary Nally (Electric Galway, Drop Everything). This is a glam, decadent event designed to appeal to a high-end party-loving crowd of mid 20s – late 30s, in a secret venue in the city.

TOTAL NIGHTMARE
(Presented By Le Cool Dublin)
Freemason’s Hall

Total Nightmare assembles a diverse line-up of literati and filmmakers to share their worst moments of panic, frustration and horror, in their careers and personal lives. Curated and MCed by Michael McDermott & Kate Coleman, Publisher & Editor of Le Cool Dublin, Dublin’s premier cultural publication.

SOUNDINGS
(Presented By Dylan Haskins And Lisa Hannigan)
St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Journalist Dylan Haskins and singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan will host a live Soundings Podcast recording featuring a diverse range of engaging speaking and musical guests. Following the huge success of their event as part of the New Year’s Festival, this event will resonate with the themes of the Bram Stoker Festival. This event will be held in St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Audience Capacity expectation: 350

Target Audience: Social Energisers

SAMHAIN AWAY WITH YOURSELF
Project Arts Centre

Samhain Away With Yourself (get it?!) takes fireside storytelling into the 21st century. This bilingual event, hosted by journalist Una Mullally and spoken-word artist Vickey Curtis in Project Arts Centre, features thrilling stories from poets, writers and storytellers, from Zosimus to Temper-Mental. An opportunity to launch into contemporary Irish culture and discover a rich, cultural legacy.

VAMPIRES – FROM NOSFERATU TO LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.
Light House Cinema

Light House Cinema will host a film season on the Bram Stoker Festival themes. The Light House Cinema has generated huge audiences for events which pack fun into the cinema going experience and has, in essence, introduced the idea of event screenings to Dublin. Our working title is ‘Vampires: From Nosferatu to Let The Right One In’, a wry look at how Stoker’s most famous character has been depicted in film. These screenings will encourage dressing up and a party atmosphere.

*FREE EVENTS*

MASER INSTALLATION
Smithfield Square

Dublin street artist Maser has been making huge waves internationally in the creation of large-scale installations in public spaces (most notably as part of the esteemed Sydney Festival in January 2015). Local youth groups will work with the artist in the construction of a large, temporary, interactive sculpture, built over one week that would remain in-situ for the duration of the Bram Stoker Festival in Smithfield (in front of Generator Hostel).

VAMPIRE FUGITIVES
City-Wide

Vampires from across the world have descended on Dublin to holiday during Bram Stoker Festival. They’re taking advantage of our long nights and roaming the streets of Dublin looking for new friends to “entertain them. They’re instantly recognizable and your job is to find them and take a selfie with them. Upload your pic and use #2FMVampires so we can see it. The best picture & caption wins a prize!

DAMN FINE PRINT: EXHIBITION & PARTY
Project Arts Centre

Damn Fine Print has commissioned graphic designers and illustrators, including Annie Atkins (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Chris Judge to create an exhibition and sale based around the themes of the Bram Stoker Festival – Contemporary Gothic, Hallowe’en and of course, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A party to launch the collection and sale will take place to kick off the festival on Friday 23rd in Project Arts Centre to directly follow the opening of Maser’s Installation at twilight.

DAMN FINE PRINT: PENNY DREADFULS
City-wide

Damn Fine Print will take their mobile screen printers across the city to high footfall, public locations where they’ll give away thousands of old-school “penny dreadfuls” – newspapers of old, filled with stories of Dublin’s Dark Side. What’s true and what’s just a scary story? You’ll have to decide. We’ve paired world-class illustrators and designers with Irish writers to create a series of four Penny Dreadfuls, which will be printed live.

MARSH’S LIBRARY MIDNIGHT CHORAL SPOOK
Marsh’s Library

Composer Robbie Blake and Tonnta Choir will conduct an eerie nighttime choir performance to amble through in Bram Stoker’s oft-frequented library. A once-in-a-lifetime experience for curious travelers, this is the type of chillingly beautiful experience people remember for a long, long time.

STOKERLAND
Wolfe Tone Square

Stokerland is a macabre pop-up theme park in the style of the 1900 world fair of Bram Stoker’s imagination. Populated by world-class street-performers: illusionists, contortionists and sideshows who will perform on the hour, this family-friendly fun-day will also offer children and their adult companion’s gothic makeovers, tin-plate selfies and Victorian goodies.

TALKS AT THE GALLERY
National Gallery of Ireland

A fascinating series of talks at the National Gallery of Ireland delves into the life, impact and legacy of the festival’s namesake, Bram Stoker. Packed with artworks visitors to the city will love, these talks add a unique experience to an oft-visited Dublin institution.