A Winter Solstice Celebration Parade Will Take Place In Smithfield This Week

December 21 marks the winter solstice and Dubliners will get to gather to rejoice in celebrating the shortest day of the year. 

Falling on Thursday of this week, the event will get underway at DIT Grangegorman with attractions such as traditional storytelling, a céilí and craft making followed by a processional parade towards Smithfield Square.

The eighth edition of the annual family-friendly event is being organised by Smashing Times Theatre and Film Company and Slí an Chroí, in partnership with Dublin City Council and Dublin Institute of Technology.

If you've never attended the event before, this video should give you a taster of what's in store...

The event gets underway at 5.30pm on Thursday December 21 and a note on the Smashing Times website reads:

'Young and old are invited to take part in this year’s magical parade which honours the Winter Solstice on December 21, marking the shortest day of the year which is celebrated worldwide across a range of cultures. 

'This family festival is a colourful gathering of local communities with national and international visitors celebrating the Winter Solstice, bringing together traditional storytelling, poetry and craft making with the processional parade culminating in a powerful and moving collective fire ceremony in Dublin’s Smithfield Square. 

'The Celebration invites everyone to take part in this inclusive gathering of people of all ethnicities and cultures through workshops, costuming, drumming, parading, flag carrying and being a participant in the Winter Solstice Fire Ceremony, the traditional climax on Smithfield Square. All activities are free.'

For more information on the Winter Solstice Celebration Festival click here. 

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