Well, the weather remains somewhat gloomy (but dry) in the city, with the odd sunny days at weekends. Not entirely a bad thing if this trend continues, although I wouldn’t be looking forward to a beautiful Saturday followed by a drenching Sunday (cf weekend 13-14 Sept).

Nonetheless, after the fun that was last night of Dublin Culture Night, there’s more activities for arts lover coming up in a few days, namely Ranelagh Arts Festival 2008. The festival runs from Tuesday 23 September to Sunday 28 September.

The festival is in its 4th reincarnation, with various events to be held in and around Ranelagh (of course), where some would be free, some free but ticketed (so order those you want now!) and some are plainly ticketed. You can either order them online or at the box office, which is the front snug of Smyth’s Pub on Ranelagh Road.

There will be song and dance, comedy nights, photography competition, open air movies, poetry reading, family fun day, children’s pirate parade, free food tasting and many many more. [Check the full programme in PDF]

I think this is a brilliant initiative to bring the people who lives in and around Ranelagh village together, while promoting this urban village to everyone else. I’ve marked out a couple of jazz events and comedy nights to check out, and perhaps will brave the crowd on Sunday for some free food at Ranelagh Gardens. ;-)