This will be an short post mostly to share some photos from Dublin Pride last weekend. Dublin Pride is the second biggest festival in Ireland after St. Patrick’s Day, and the last officially organised Pride weekend was two years ago in 2019 due to COVID. My friend S. arrived into Dublin by train early Friday evening, then we met up with my friend CJ and a friend of S’s to go to an outdoor concert at the Collins Barracks (home to the National Museum of Ireland for Decorative & History). The headliner was Years and Years, a band fronted by Olly Alexander who starred in the TV series “It’s a Sin.” It was a sizeable crowd, and we stood towards the back on a slightly raised sidewalk/median that provided a good view. Although the forecast had originally called for rain, the skies were quite clear at sunset — it turned out to be a lovely evening. The concert ended around 10:45pm, and on the way back to the city centre we stopped by Pennylane, which was absolutely packed. The crowd at the bar inside was almost impossible to get through. Eventually we managed to get a round of pints and stood on the outside patio, before luckily getting a table where we camped out for a second round before heading home.
On Saturday, the Pride parade started around noon from O’Connell Street, turned down the northside quays of the River Liffey, marched past the Customs House, then crossed over the Talbot Memorial Bridge, and finally made its way to Merrion Square. CJ, S and I watched from the corner where the parade turned after coming off the bridge, where the crowds were not very deep. Thankfully the weather continued to be clear and dry, with rain only coming later on in the afternoon when the parade and most of the afternoon festivities were winding down. There was a stage step up in Merrion Square for various performances, and the scene was very family-friendly — no alcohol was served or allowed. S. and I headed back to my apartment to rest up for a bit, then in the evening we went to the Vicar Street club (a small concert venue) for a Pride Party hosted by two local drag queens, Victoria Secret and Davina Divine. The venue was full but not overly crowded. We stayed until the party ended around 2:00am then walked back home, our feet quite sore after a long day. On Sunday we went to brunch at Elephant & Castle in Temple Bar, a casual restaurant founded in 1989 as an offshoot from a steakhouse in New York with the same name. We took it easy for the rest of the afternoon before it was time for S. to catch his train back home.
Until next time….
