Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, has officially launched Culture Night 2013 at the Museum Building, Trinity College.

Culture night 2013 will take place on 20th September, this will be the 8th annual Culture Night and will see 34 regions, towns and cities around Ireland programme a variety of cultural and artistic events.

Locations across the island of Ireland participating include An Ghaeltacht, Armagh, Belfast, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork County, Cork City, Derry/Londonderry, Louth, Dublin, Galway City, Galway County, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Letterkenny, Limerick, Mayo, Newry & Mourne District, Navan, North Tipperary, Offaly, Omagh District, Roscommon, Sligo, South Tipperary, Strabane District, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

The free lively late-night national event will include live music, dance, theatre, spoken word, literature, visual art, traditional and Irish contemporary culture, interactive tours, workshops and exhibitions. Culture Night is an initiative co-ordinated by Temple Bar Cultural Trust and supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in partnership with the regional arts offices and local authorities throughout the island of Ireland.

Speaking at the launch Minister Deenihan said, “Culture Night provides a terrific opportunity for families to sample aspects of Irish Culture and Heritage which might be new to them. The National Cultural institutions all remain open late for this night, it is all about participation and celebrating and becoming familiar with our own culture and venues which are on our doorstep but some of which we may never have visited previously.”

As a special element of the programme this year, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra will perform an exclusive one-off performance in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar. As well as treating visitors to a crowd-pleasing action packed programme, which will include a lively mix of music and interviews., the orchestra will perform a fanfare which has been exclusively commissioned to celebrate Culture Night by contemporary Irish composer, Stephen Gardner. The performance will be broadcast live from the magical outdoor venue on Arena on RTÉ Radio 1.

An incredible fusion of cultural events will be seen around the country this September as museums, galleries, theatres, churches, historic houses, artists’ studios and cultural institutions throw open their doors for Culture Night 2013. Each and every participating area nationwide will pull out all the stops for the annual night of cultural excitement that began back in 2006.

People of all ages across the country are encouraged to Explore, Experience and Enjoy an evening of adventure and discovery as cultural organisations and regional authorities produce an incredible evening of free cultural experiences for all the family to enjoy. In 2012, a record 300,000 people took to the streets en masse across the cities and towns of Ireland to enjoy the incredible atmosphere and unique experience with even more participants expected in 2013.

Commenting on this year’s programme for Culture Night, Minister Deenihan added: “I am delighted to launch the annual Culture Night celebrations. The extraordinary night of cultural festivities has grown each year since its inception in 2006 with inspiring commitment from local authorities, cultural organisations and participants throughout the country. There is a diverse programme of performances, events and exhibitions available to the public. Figures show increased tourist numbers for the nationwide event, and in this the year of the Gathering even greater numbers can be expected to participate. I would like to personally commend all the volunteers and staff of the various locations nationwide who work tirelessly to ensure that Culture Night is a success.”

The full programme of events and participating venues for Culture Night 2013 is now available on www.culturenight.ie.

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