The Absolut Fringe Festival has just kicked off yesterday and there’s a schedule that’s jam-packed with events, workshops and shows – with something for everybody.

One of the central hang-out locations that the festival goers shouldn’t miss is the Absolut Fringe Factory @ Smock Alley Theatre on Lower Exchange St (off Essex Quay). An unique venue, for the duration of the festival, it plays host to 16 original contemporary Irish artworks.

Absolut Art @ Fringe Festival

Absolut Art pieces were created with this sole decree – “Be inspired by the Absolut bottle”. Within a short period of time, The Small Print curated the fabulous collection by Irish artists, from illustrators to graffiti artists to photographers. Among them are Maser, Asbestos, Chris Judge, Steve Simpson, Cliona O’Flaherty, Aisling Farinella and BrenB.

Richard Brickley, Absolut Marketing Manager, was very pleased with these highly creative works created from the very same brief that was given to Andy Warhol back in 1985, resulting in Absolut Warhol. Emma Donnellan, Brands Director for Irish Distiller Pernod Ricard, was in complete agreement and was excited that these pieces will be added to the international Absolut Art collection in Stockholm, Sweden.

The pieces currently on exhibit should be admired in person.

Absolut BrenB is vibrant and colourful, inspired by the text from the bottle label. Absolut Farinella is deceptively simple with the model styled in an iconic Absolut logo printed t-shirt, but referencing works of Karlheinz Weinberger. Absolut Asbestos retains graffiti quality within abstract space. Absolut Simpson has a retro feel with its colour scheme of blue, beige and red, and is a marvelous (somewhat) 3D piece. Absolut Judge features a robot (rather like Bender from Futuram) walking through a tunnel of electrifying light – if only the piece has been shown with UV light, you’d see glowing colours from the special colour markers that he had used in this creation. Absolut O’Flaherty is vintage candy at its most elegant, celebrating the occasion with a ginormous cake.

Don’t just take my words for it. Go and see them for yourself. All 16 pieces. The Absolut Fringe Factory opens 5pm-10pm daily, from 5 September to 20 September. If you’re catching any of the fringe events, why not take a small detour to visit this exhibit and enjoy a drink at the bar of this one of a kind venue before your show? The admission is free.

The next 7 weeks will be buzzing with numerous festivals going on in the city. We are all going to be spoilt for choice – and possibly also go broke from paying for tickets to all the tempting offerings. But, there are still some events which are free, and some which are free but ticket-requiring.

The only key is, if tickets are required (be it free events or not), get them as soon as possible because once they’re gone, they’re gone!

(Scroll over the banners to get to the relevant festival homepages)

There you have it, the major events that will keep you entertain (and out of trouble?) between now and early October.

A couple of things to note. The festivals that boast some free events are those during the Heritage Week, the Festival of World Cultures and DLR Mountains to Sea Book Festival. For the Fringe Festival, there are several workshops which are ticketed at €30 each, places are limited and can only be booked either in person at the box office or by phone.

Something for the Tweeps : @HeritageWeek, @FoWC, @dublinfringe, @DubTheatreFest and last but not least, @DUBMetblogs.

Yey, it’s that time of year again! If September still gives you shiver-inducing memories of the beginning of term and the monsoon rains outside are telling you that ‘Summer’ (HA!) is officially over, take comfort in the knowledge that the most depressing month of the year also plays host to the most innovative festival to hit Dublin. Yes folks, the eagerly anticipated Dublin Fringe Festival is upon us again.

The Fringe Festival is an exciting exploration of a variety of arts, from dance and theatre to dubstep and rock. This year it runs from the 6th to the 21st of September in a variety of locations throughout the city, with the infamous Spiegeltent being the hub of activity (this year located in the Iveagh Gardens). The nature of the Fringe Festival makes all forms of art accessible to people from all walks of life, wherever their interests lie.

Friday the 6th sees the Fringe Fest open in style with the BATUCADA! party, which promises to be a high-energy night of afro-latin style music, dance and performance. The highly popular La Clique is back for 2008 after it reached unprecedented success at last years festival. The show combines elements of caberet, burlesque and acrobatics – it’s sure to sell out so get your tickets for this one quick. The festival also boasts some quality gigs to cater for all musical tastes throughout September. Catch Manchunian rock veterans, The Fall, play the Spiegeltent on the 9th, Duke Special combines music with theatre through radio noir thriller, The Silhouette, on the 10th and sultry-voiced beauty Maria Tecce returns on the 12th and 13th after last years sell-out show. There’s also a fantastic Dubstep night in the Spiegeltent on the 12th and founding fathers of rap, The Sugarhill Gang, perform their 30th anniversary party concert at the Spiegeltent on the 14th.

If theatre and performance art is more your cup of tea then there is an unsurmountable selection to choose from – with theatre being the very essence of the Fringe Festival. Take a trip into the murky world of the likes of Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel with a five minute personal Surrealist trip courtesy of Bootworks Theatre or, if you fancy something a little lighter, why not check out Tommy Tiernan’s directorial attempts in Help!, starring his cousin, Eleanor Tiernan, as a struggling comedian.

With over 200 events running over the course of the festival, the term ‘something for everyone’ could have been coined to describe the fringe fest. Don’t take my word for it, check out the listings for yourself and get booking. As my nan would say – It’s culture Dahling. Enjoy!