Guitar enthusiasts and music fans across Dublin are in for a treat this week with the return of the Walton’s Guitar Festival of Ireland. Celebrating it’s 5th anniversary, this year’s festival is set to be one of the most exciting to date with a stellar line up and an awesome calibre of workshop mentors. Sponsored by Irelands pre-eminent instrument store, Waltons , the festival features performances from some of the world’s most critically acclaimed musicians who will be strumming their way through a number of different venues throughout Dublin from July 2nd – July 6th. Not only can punters experience some of the industry greats performing live, they will also have the rare opportunity to partake in workshops headed by the likes of Australian Tommy Emmanuel , who is widely reputed to be one of the world’s best acoustic guitar players, and Joscho Stephan, who is well known for his association with Django Reinhardt and the famous Hot Club de France.

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The concerts kick off on Wednesday with a lunchtime performance by festival organiser, Alec O’Leary, and continue through to the evening with highly acclaimed Italian newcomers, Soloduo. Other highlights include performances by early music ensemble Tonos, and a collaboration of music by John Feely and Paraguayan Berta Rojas at the National Concert Hall. Croatian beauty Ana Vidovic brings her unsurpassed classical style to the National Gallery on Saturday lunchtime, followed by a performance in Tripod that evening by Tommy Emmanuel (Book early for this one, he really is amazing and the show is sure to be a sell out). The festival wraps up with the spectacular Joscho Stephan Trio who play an intimate show in the Sugar Club on Saturday night. As mentioned, the live shows are peppered with workshops and classes, including an exciting opportunity for budding guitarists to partake in ‘The G Factor’, a votes based competition on Wednesday with the winners being given the chance to perform a full concert at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The full timetable of events is available here.