Drive-in movies to start in Phoenix Park

Drive-in movies, a beer festival, live music and a book fair are among the free activities taking place at Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park this summer.

From July onwards members of the general public will be able to enjoy a series of classic movies on a big outdoor screen in the grounds of Farmleigh including horror films and musicals.

The cultural programme, which is being co-ordinated by the Office of Public Works was launched by Minister for State with responsibility for the OPW, Dr Martin Mansergh, earlier today.

A series of salon music concerts will take place next month which includes musicians such as Muzsikas from Hungary and Mali's Ballake Cissokho, while experts from RTÉ's The Dealersshow will also be on hand to offer advice at an antique and rare book fair to be staged in July.

As part of the season, Athletics Ireland is organising a Family Fitness Festival which includes a 5km open road race. The Farmleigh Affair festival returns in August, offering two days of free music from both home grown artists and performers from further afield.

The two-day SeptemberFest 2008, which is loosely based on Munich’s Oktoberfest, will feature Ireland’s craft brewers and showcase traditional ales, beers and ciders as well as speciality food.

Other summer events at Farmleigh include a children’s book day, storytelling workshops and botany lectures.

Adding to the festivals, fairs and films, the House and Gardens will play host to writer-in-residence Dermot Bolger, winner of the Samuel Beckett Award and Playwright in Association at the Abbey Theatre, where he will host a reading of his novel The Family on Paradise Pieras well as sequences of his poetry.

The OPW is also running other similar at its properties at Kilkenny Castle and Castletown House, Co Kildare from July to September.

"The public response to bringing these buildings alive by running programmes such as this has been phenomenal," said Mary Heffernan, general manager, Farmleigh House. "We want people to get excited about their heritage and the wonders of these buildings and that's why we're running these events."