Live music is back on with both Dublin’s New Year’s Festival *and* Adele confirming upcoming gigs

The 2020 celebration was cancelled amidst ongoing public health concerns, but Dublin’s annual New Year’s Festival is back on for 2021. Keen to make this year’s show even bigger and better than before, organisers are pulling out all the stops to make up for the past year of disappointments and it’s going to be one big party by the sounds of it.

Now in its 10th year, it’s one of the country’s biggest festive events each year. Set to span across two days this December, the team has confirmed that there’s already plenty in the pipeline to mark the milestone occasion – including music from Picture This, Lyra and Ryan Sheridan, a stunning fireworks display and not one, not two but three different countdowns. 

The festivities will run into New Year’s Day too, with pop-up street performances scheduled to take place on the grounds of Dublin Castle along with various others in Temple Bar.

Super excited that things will be able to go ahead as hoped this year, Ciara Sugrue, head of festivals at Fáilte Ireland, commented that “events like this are crucial as we work towards the recovery of the tourism sector.” “The New Year’s Festival Dublin will give visitors the opportunity to experience the very best of our capital city while providing a boost for tourism businesses at an off-peak time of the year,” she continued. 

Also celebrating the imminent return of the annual celebration, Alison Gilliland, Lord Mayor of Dublin noted that “there really is something for everyone”. “As we leave behind 2021 there is real optimism now that hopefully, we can all look forward to a better year ahead. After a pretty quiet New Year’s last year, let’s ring in 2022 in style!”, she enthused. 

Tickets for the event cost €37.90 and go on sale this Friday, October 29 at 9 am, while the full festival programme will be announced later next month. 

The good gig news doesn’t stop there either and woman of the hour, Adele, has just announced that she’ll take to the stage at London’s Hyde Park next summer. 

Oi oi, is right. 

Due to take place on July 1st and 2nd, presale will begin at 10 am this Thursday – though signups kicked off on her website at 8 am this morning. Those who miss out on presale will have to wait until Saturday, October 30 to try and get their hands on a coveted golden ticket. 

Unsurprisingly, tickets are already in such hot demand that fans have reported being unable to get onto the singer’s website, which presumably crashed due to the high volume of traffic trying to gain access. Adele’s first concert since 2017, the two surprise shows mark part of the performer’s musical comeback which was launched with the release of her latest single Easy on Me earlier this month.