Dublin City Spectacular!

From July 10 – 12, one of Ireland’s largest and most popular summer festivals is back in Merrion Square, Dublin. Always great fun for every member of the family, 2015 marks the 10th year of City Spectacular (formerly known as the Street Performance World Championships).

Although its name may have changed (and sponsorship has now been taken over by Laya Healthcare), City Spectacular is still free to all. In addition, not only does it still feature the international street performers that audiences have come to know and love, the programme of events has been extended considerably.

Marvel at the acrobatics of Trampoline Mission 3, a Belgian trio that makes gymnastics on a trampoline look like child’s play. You can see them at Merrion Square East on July 11 and 12 at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.

Throughout the day, Laya Healthcare’s SuperTroopers will also be patrolling Merrion Square Park on July 11 and 12. Through FitKidz classes, skipping ropes, hula hoops and mini-trampolines, they will turn keeping fit into a game for kids.

As part of this innovative project, there will also be Happy Yoga for all the family, with Guru Dudu. Yoga meets disco – why not? Also, who said yoga has to be serious? These sessions are intentionally hilarious and ridiculous. Always the best way to exercise and get healthy, in my opinion.

Guru Dudu also does Silent Disco. Be warned. From July 9 – 12, every evening you can meet him at the Molly Malone statue (don’t forget she has recently been moved to Suffolk Street) at 6:30pm for a good old Flash Mob session, mad improvisation and some interpretative dance. Tickets start from €8.

There is also the ESB Spark Your Imagination area, which encourages kids to develop their creativity and stretch their imagination to its limit through comedy, music, science and a host of other fun media. Throughout the weekend, there will be live science shows courtesy of Doktor Kaboom, who will be recruiting children as temporary assistants in his whacky experiments. Definitely one for the budding scientists in the family.

For any future engineers out there, the Learn It Workshops (also part of ESB Spark Your Imagination) are the places to be. From concept straight through to reality, children can talk about their LEGO projects with each other, plan and draw up blueprints, and put their designs into practice. There will be absolutely no shortage of LEGO at each Workshop so your kids will only be limited by their own ideas and imagination. If they have thought of it, there is probably no reason why they can’t create it here.

Dublin City Spectacular Charity Partner is LauraLynn

This year, City Spectacular’s official charity partner is LauraLynn, the only children’s hospice in Ireland. There will be a ‘LauraLynn Games Garden’ in the centre of the park, where you can have a chat with some of the team.

As if all of this wasn’t enough, there will also be a Kid’s Court (yes, you read that correctly), a Petting Farm, Halleluia Gospel Choir, Eat Street – Food Village, Layabout Area, Sing Factory Vocal Coach and Mike the Machine.

With so much to see and do, my advice is to check out Locations & Schedules on the City Spectacular website, decide what you want to do on each day and make sure you get to see everything that takes your fancy over the course of the weekend.