Bloomsday celebrations in 1904 costumes. Photo Credit: The James Joyce Centre, Dublin
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Bloomsday Festival
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When:
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16 Jun 2008 (annual)
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Where:
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Dublin
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Dublin celebrates the life and works of James Joyce with the Bloomsday Festival of readings, performances, breakfasts, walks, conferences and visits to the pub.
The first Bloomsday was on 16 June 1904, when James Joyce went on his first date with Nora Barnacle, his future wife. Years later, he set Ulysses on the same day.
Traditional Dublin celebrations originated in 1954 when a small band of Dublin writers set out in horse-drawn cabs intending to visit all the locations of Ulysses. Today, wandering Joyceans continue in the same vein, and try to go to the places where the novel is set in order to reconstruct the events through readings, dramatisations and chance encounters.
Popular activities include a full Irish breakfast and pint of Guinness in honour of Leopold Bloom, walking tours of Joyce's Dublin, theatrical readings from Ulysses and having a gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of burgundy in a pub for lunch (preferably Davy Byrne's).
Please contact the James Joyce Centre for full details of the official programme, and watch out for the widespread unofficial activities that take place in addition to the scheduled events.
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