Looking Back at DBF24

Thank you to all of you who joined us at Dublin Book Festival 2024 for our five days of dynamic literary and creative events in venues all across the city, including our Festival Hub at The Printworks, Dublin Castle. Join us as we take a brief look back at just some of what these five days included.

On Day 1, we had a full day of events out at St Patrick’s Campus, DCU, as part of The Artist and the City symposium, including writing clinics, a panel discussion around campus narratives, an open mic, and a film screening. That evening we came back into Dublin’s Windmill Quarter for our festival opening night with Winter Papers, broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1 Arena.

On Day 2, our events stretched from a nature lover’s walk in the Iveagh Gardens and a step back in time in the Abbey Theatre, to a workshop around driving community change in MoLI, an evening of writing talk and music in the Dublin Liberties Distillery, exploring Writing from the Margins at the New Theatre in Temple Bar, and more.

On Day 3, while a full day of dynamic events for Irish publishers was taking place at the Annual Irish Publishers Conference in the main hall of The Printworks, our Festival Hub also hosted events including a Literary Producer Event, a meet up for professional children’s creatives, a showcase around the Creative Pathways to Participation publication, the Play It Forward showcase, the O’Brien Press 50th anniversary event, and more. At venues around the city we had a mindful walk in the Iveagh Gardens, a delve into the history of Irish food at the Royal Irish Academy, a discussion around some of this year’s most exciting Irish debut novels in the New Theatre, a book launch around a collection of lost Irish horror stories at The Gutter Bookshop, the first night of our DBF After Dark Festival Club in The Grafton where four writers considered their Greatest Story Ever Told, the Foundation showcase in the Dublin Liberties Distillery, and more.

Days 4 and 5 saw a huge number of events taking place at our Festival Hub in The Printworks, from authors in conversation about their latest books, to anniversary events and showcases, stimulating panel discussions looking back through history, discussions around the craft of writing, conversations exploring pressing topical issues around the environment as part of our Science Week programme, and our full weekend of fun and interactive events for children and their families to enjoy.

If you attended some of these events at our Hub, you may have noticed our beautiful stage sets, donated and designed by Dublin design company Oriana B. Outside The Printworks was our lovely tent, sponsored by Ballintubbert Gardens and House and supplied by Bohemia Canvas, which hosted a number of workshops, as well as our drop-in ‘Plant Your Own’ Tent, where audiences could learn about growing their own plants at home.

Events also stretched from literary walks through the streets of the city centre, to poetry and mindfulness walks in the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, and back across to events in the RDS Library & Archives in Ballsbridge and the dlr LexIcon Library in Dún Laoghaire. As the evening rolled in, our DBF After Dark strand took us to Bewley’s on Grafton street for Short Stories and a Literary Cabaret, and to explore writing and music from the Gaeltacht over in the Dublin Liberties Distillery.

We also saw a whole series of engaging school events, for primary and secondary schools, take place throughout the week, in Dublin City Libraries, other venues around the city, and online.

With over 100 events to look back on, head over to our Instagram (@dublinbookfest) to follow as we continue to share moments from DBF24, and for those not on Instagram we’ll also be updating our website gallery with plenty of images over the coming weeks.

The festival could not have happened without the unwavering support of our festival funders, sponsors and partners, and we have many thank yous to say. For the invaluable and continued support of The Arts Council, we are deeply grateful. To the OPW for supporting us, in particular with our Festival Hub at The Printworks. To Dublin City Council for the continued support, and to Dublin City Council’s Night-Time Economy Advisor for the support towards this year’s DBF After Dark strand. To Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland who, for a second year running, supported us as part of Science Week. To long-time supporters the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature office, RTÉ who supported us through RTÉ Supporting the Arts, the ICLA and our media partners the DMG Group. We were also delighted to once again be part of Fáilte Ireland’s Winter in Dublin campaign. And to all our festival partners who supported us in our programming, and through the use of their wonderful venues, which allow us to weave our festival into the cultural fabric of this city, we thank you.

Last but by no means least, thank you all of you, our audiences, who came and joined us at DBF24, and we hope to see you back again next year!

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Dublin City Libraries Readers’ Day, image courtesy Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, © Ger Holland