Crowds to return to Dublin for first New Year’s Eve festival since Covid-19

Some 40,000 people are expected to take to the streets of Dublin for the first New Year’s Eve festival since 2019.

On New Year’s Eve 2019 the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Wuhan, China. Few people celebrating the New Year then knew or could believe what was in store for the world for the next two years.

New Year’s Festival takes place on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day on the streets of Dublin. To date 18,000 tickets have been sold for the main event on North Wall Quay.

The headline act will be Westlife, who first retired in 2012 before returning in 2018 and embarking on an ongoing world tour.

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For those of a younger age, there will be the Brighter Futures Midnight Moment – Matinee, which will start at 4pm leading to an earlier countdown spectacle at 7pm. A further 18,000 tickets have been sold for that event, which includes Gavin James and Lyra.

On New Year’s Day there will be a free family session in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar between 1pm and 6pm with street performers and musicians. Among the highlights will be The Pride Of Plains Marching Band from Pittsburgh which will march through Temple Bar.

Dublin had marketed itself as a New Year’s Eve destination before Covid-19 put a halt to all of that for two years. Festival organiser Orla Carroll of Fáilte Ireland described it as a “hero event in establishing Dublin as a must-visit destination for a winter break and to celebrate the New Year”.

For those not venturing out, Jennifer Zamparelli will ring in 2023 on the New Year’s Eve Party at 10.15pm on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player.

Irish rock veterans Ash, Tom Grennan, Lyra, 60s icon Donovan and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra will be among the performers. Marty Morrissey will present from North Wall Quay.

New Year’s Eve will be cold with temperatures between 1 and 5 degrees, but it should stay dry except in parts of Ulster. New Year’s Day will see temperatures of between 4 and 8 degrees with temperatures at night falling to between freezing and minus 3 degrees.

A few clubs in Dublin are putting on special nights. The LGBTQ+ club night Mother will be in Lost Lane for an evening of DJ sets from Rocky T Delgado, Ruth Kavanagh and Ghostboy. There’s a New Year’s Eve party in Fitzsimons in Temple Bar, and a night of Afrobeats from DJ Ahmed just over the river Liffey in The Grand Social.

In Pygmalion on South William Street, Alexis Taylor will do a DJ set, and around the corner in Bow Lane Social, DJ Wax from RTÉ 2FM will be spinning tunes. At Rascals Brewery in Inchicore, there will be DJs on the decks, alongside a menu of wood-fired pizzas and their own beer.

Cork City Council have not organised any official events but there will be a boat party on The Spirit of Doolan and a New Year’s Eve Gala Ball at the Metropole Hotel.