We awarded the winner of The Summer Sensational online competition last week and the winner is Dave Madden from www.dublinculture.ie. Here is some feedback from Dave about his experience blogging at The Summer Sensational.

“Since I started blogging about Dublin a few months ago I’ve gotten to know Temple Bar much better. When I heard there was a new festival on – The Summer Sensational – there was no way I was going to miss it.

Thank you to everyone (especially the performers) who made The Summer Sensational possible! “

Dave was delighted with his prize which was an HTC Legend Smartphone from Meteor.

Many thanks again to all the bloggers who took part in the competition and we hope to see you all back for our next event!

On Friday 24^th September 2010, in 20 towns, cities, counties and islands across Ireland, the clocks of museums, cathedrals, galleries, theatres and other cultural venues will be reset to stay open until 11pm, in celebration of Culture Night 2010, a late-night of free culture for people of all ages.

Organisers, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, say what began as small scale Culture Night in the Temple Bar area in 2006 is this year spreading to 20 towns, cities and counties across Ireland, and reaching as far as the islands of Tory and Inis Meáin. 

Streets, venues and open-spaces will come alive with a rich cultural offering of electric atmosphere, colour, music, performance and workshops providing people with an opportunity to reacquaint or introduce themselves to a vast and rich cultural offering. 

Culture Night provides the platform to celebrate our distinct cultural and creative resources which are a source of great national pride and an essential element of our national competitiveness in globalised world.

For the first time, since Culture Night officially launched in 2006, the Gaeltacht regions will host their own Culture Night, marking a great step in bringing culture closer to people and moving towards Temple Bar Cultural Trusts vision of an all-Ireland Culture Night.

Grandparents, grandchildren, families and people of all backgrounds can be seen experiencing Culture Night – it brings together a very unique and diverse audience who all share a desire to explore and enjoy culture.

Last year Dublin saw an amazing 152,000 in the City for Culture Night and with this year’s expansion thousands more are expected to descend on Culture Night with people travelling from far and wide to experience Culture Night in their preferred area.

The full programme of events and participating venues for Culture Night 2010 will be available on www.culturenight.ie from 18^th August or by calling organisers Temple Bar Cultural Trust on 01 6772255.

Did you capture culture in Temple Bar during The Summer Sensational? Take part in the Summer Sensational Photo Competition and be in with a chance to win a four course dinner for two at La Dolce Vita, a delicious Italian wine bar in the heart of the Old City area of Temple Bar. The Deadline for Submission is next Monday, 18th July!

Photos for the competition are being stored on Flickr, a free photo storage and sharing site owned by Yahoo. You can submit your Dublin photos by following these steps:

1. Visit the TBCT Photo Competition Flickr Group page and sign up for a free Flickr account or login using your existing Yahoo account if you have one.
2. Once you are signed in, visit the TBCT Photo Competition Flickr page and join the TBCT Photo Competition group.
3. Upload photos to your account.
4. Go to the page of the photo(s) you want to submit to the competition.
5. Click the “Send to Group” button between the photo title and the photo.
6. Choose the “TBCT Photo Competition” group and you’re done!

Once you’ve opened a Flickr account, you can also add photos via your mobile and share them on your blog.

 The winner will be notified via their Flickr account

… with the Dublin Gospel Choir

… the electro acoustic journey of The Joculator

… story telling, street theatre and entertainment for all the family!

What’s the Buzz? – The Summer Sensational online competition

Check their blogs for more reviews during the festival!

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

Giant disco for all the family today in Smock Alley Theatre. Everyone hit the dance floor (grown-ups too)!

A walking tour of Temple Bar’s public art

Shutter by Rachel Joynt, 1993                                   

Do you know where the Gallery of Photography’s logo comes from? Take a look at this piece at the entrance of the Gallery of Photography the next time you go there.

Absolute Jellies Make Singing Sounds by Maud  Cotter, 1994

Also take a closer look at the Green Building, 23-24 Temple Lane South, featuring a selection of recycling materials right at the door.

Click here to view to full list of public arts in Temple Bar.

Get into shorts with Filmbase – One  more day to go!

Lunchtime break in Filmbase everyday during the Summer Sensational (1-1.45pm). Shorts sessions in the Culture Box also on Sunday (5-6pm) and La Dolce Vita (7-8pm).

The notoriously difficult to spot Wally has been seen in Temple Bar today!

What’s the Buzz? – The Summer Sensational online competition

Check their blogs for more reviews during the festival!

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

Well equipped with ponchos and umbrellas, Julie Feeney met up with the crowd last night on Meeting House Square for a singing in the rain gig!  

The Lord of Strut – comedy circus show on the Square

Back by popular demand, The Lord of Strut once again entertained small and big kids with their break dancing, acrobatics, acrobalance and above all their sense of humour!

Storytelling with Jack Lynch at Smock Alley Theatre

One dry place to relax and enjoy stories of the great Eamon Kelly in the beautiful surrounding of Smock Alley Theatre – Jack Lynch surely knows how to tell stories and keep the audience captivated.

What’s the Buzz? – The Summer Sensational online competition

Check their blogs for more reviews during the festival!

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

Kids have started to build an imaginary city from cardboard. This interactive cityscape will be built over the four days of The Summer Sensational. We can’t wait to see the final piece!

Michael Timmins revealing the magic of prints outdoor in the Old City area of Temple Bar

If you were there, prints should no longer be a mystery to you. If you were not, Jenny Spain is coming back tomorrow (July 9^th) to demonstrate some of the skills that it takes to produce an etching and other print method from 11am-3pm on Cow’s Lane.

Cliffhanger! – a silent-movie style show by the Bash Street Company

Even with the rain, the show must go on! The Bash Street Company performed twice today on Meeting House Square and it was a great success. If you missed it, you can watch a small piece here on Youtube.

The Gift – Giorgia Fioro Exhibition at the Gallery of Photography

A must see powerful black and white photography highlighting moments of spiritual and religious ritual from across the planet. It’s running for the duration of the festival so drop by if you’re about.

Le Cirque de Legume – vegetable circus show staged on Meeting House Square

It is an hilarious love story between two clowns, their vegetables, and us.  50 minutes of comic absurd mayhem as two idiots put on a Cirque-du-Soleil type show using only a chair and a box of cast-off vegetables.  If you want to know more about these  two amazing comedians check out their interview with Darragh Doyle on Youtube.

What’s the Buzz? – The Summer Sensational online competition

Check their blogs for more reviews during the festival!

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

As part of The Summer Sensational (8^th-11^th July), we are running a competition to create an online Buzz and explore the influence of new media on the production and consumption of Culture.

Whether it’s a blog review, a video, a photo or a series of tweets, they will be online to give you a sense of what’s happening during our 4 day festival!

On Twitter

Regina @CowsLaneCraft, Trish @mudpuds, Steph @cloudsteph, Kerrie @Kerrie0, Aidan @dionsis, Rob @ticketsthere, Darragh @darraghdoyle, Niamh @niamhsmith and Annie @yelpdublin.

Their Blogs

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

Don’t forget to connect with us online on Twitter, Facebook and to keep an eye on our Culture Corner Blog to follow the Buzz during The Summer Sensational!

The IFI and Temple Bar Cultural Trust Summer Sensational have teamed up to offer one lucky winner the prize of a family pass (4 tickets, worth €15) to the closing film Carlitos and the Chance of a Lifetime at the IFI Family Festival on Sunday July 11^th at 4pm.

Telling the story of Carlitos, a young boy who dreams of playing football for Spain and finding a family, this Spanish film is perfect for film and World Cup fans everywhere. And don’t let subtitles put you off; there’ll be a reader too.

To enter, simply reply to culturecorner@templebar.ie with an answer to the following: When did Spain last win the World Cup? We will pick the winner on 8^th July.

This summer the IFI Family Festival brings films from around the world to young film fans aged 4 to 12. Starting on July 8^th with Mia and the Migoo, a beautiful French animation with a sense of adventure, a brave girl and an environmental message, the festival continues with stories of friendship, mystery and fun from Latvia, Germany and other places. There are workshops too where you can learn more about animating and filmmaking.

For full programme details, prices and booking, please visit www.ifi.ie or phone 01 679 3477.

THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED

As part of The Summer Sensational (8^th-11^th July), we are running a competition to create an online Buzz and explore the influence of new media on the production and consumption of Culture.

To take part in the competition you just need to contact Julie at jmomboisse@templebar.ie to register your blog, twitter, facebook or any other platform you are using.

Whether it’s a blog review, a video, a photo or a series of tweets, your contribution will have to give the audience a sense of what’s happening during our 4 day festival.

We will be awarding the most creative work with a HTC Legend Smartphone, kindly provided by Meteor! 

Here are the people who already agreed to take part:

On Twitter

Regina @CowsLaneCraft, Trish @mudpuds, Steph @cloudsteph, Kerrie @Kerrie0, Aidan @dionsis, Rob @ticketsthere, Darragh @darraghdoyle, Niamh @niamhsmith and Annie @yelpdublin.

Their Blogs

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

Don’t forget to connect with us online on Twitter, Facebook and to keep an eye on our Culture Corner Blog to follow the Buzz during The Summer Sensational!