A recent but brilliant addition to the Dublin fashion scene is the Dublin Fashion Festival, taking place at the end of next week. As well as fashion shows and exhibitions, the festival has offers in shops, on beauty and hair, not to mention plenty of cocktails, snacks and treats! I’m planning on spending Thursday eve at Fashions Night Out in Brown Thomas, followed by cocktails in The Exchequer Bar and The Lost Society. On Saturday I’m getting a new haircut at The Art Team, before hitting the shops to take advantage of the many discounts on offer. What will you be doing?
Sea Sessions has grown from a relatively tiny festival in Bundoran, to being one of the most popular boutique style festivals in Ireland – without losing any of its original charm. And that’s why I love it! From the site itself (small but cosy, with not too much noise crossover, and sand instead of mud), to the location (looking over the Atlantic ocean, and close to town), to the extras (surf comps, discounts, beach activities and great food stalls), there is little bad I can say about this set up.
Glastonbury was a wet and muddy affair this year for the most part, and personally, I think its more difficult to look ‘festival fit’ in that type of weather. I was at Sea Sessions at the weekend and the weather wasn’t great - I cursed the lack of suitable clothing I had packed! That said, the ladies over the water still did their best and showed us some good outfits, that no doubt we’ll see repeated on the locals at EP or Oxegen soon! The welly of choice was Hunter (though I reckon Alexa will start a trend with her Superga wellies!), the jackets were Barbour and the bags were Mulberry. My favourite looks were on Poppy Delevigne.
Only 4 more sleeps until Sea Sessions!!! Easily my favourite festival of the Summer, I cant wait to make the trip NorthWest to Bundoran on Friday. Even better, I have great friends and family coming along with me! I finally sorted accommodation, and in true Metro Chica style I opted for a hotel package I like a comfy bed and hot shower – what can I say! Delighted to see that the Sea Sessions gang have brought out an iPhone app too – no better way to keep on top of last-minute lineup changes and see what surf events are on. Speaking of the lineup, here’s the latest:
Looking forward to the Quiksilver Expression Session surf competition and I’ll be shouting for ‘local boy’ and friend of my brother, Cain Kilcullen (see the video below). Other than that I will be visiting the Surf Village at Tullen strand, enjoying some drinks and music in the Bridge Bar, hopefully catching some rays on the beach, grabbing a seaweed bath, and clearing my hangover by jumping into the Atlantic ocean off the big rock! Now all I have to do is figure out what to wear….
As I mentioned a couple of weeks back, its festival season and Metro Chica is on a mission to support boutique Irish festivals and music this year! With that in mind, I packed my tent and took the short trip from Dublin to Dunany, Co Louth for Vantastival. First impressions? Easy to access car park and helpful staff, maybe needed a few more signs on the road to help us find our way… The sun was shining and we dragged our tents, booze and unnecessary toiletries to the adjacent field into our campsite. We chose to set up next to the Paddy Mirage tent which in hindsight might not have been the best move – music blaring at 5am and my oncoming hangover didn’t mix well. I was with some friends who had been there last year and they informed me that this years event looked like it had more people and was better organised and naturally, more fun! We settled in for the day…
Great cardigan - perfect for the changing Irish festival weather
So Saturday went by in a blur of blazing sunshine, mad windy weather, great music and dancing in the forest. My musical highlights were Duke Special, The Cast of Cheers, Reverend JM’s Panic Worship, The Young Folk and The Amazing Few. I ate delicious Kanum thai and drank my own cans (BYOB is genius at festivals). The tents were spaced out enough that the sound didn’t interfere with the others, and the Paddy Mirage ‘tent’ was a joy with its small pub vibe and wooden benches. We ended the night out in the forest at the Gramophone Disco which was both weird and wonderful, and made friends on our way back to the tents.
The Gramophone Disco in daylight - much less bizarre than at 4am...
Loved this girls aztec print pants!
Sunday was more of the same – and I even managed some sunburn! What amazed me most about Vantastival was the friendly nature of everyone. No one was there to cause trouble and over the whole weekend I didn’t see or hear of even one incident. I felt completely safe leaving my stuff in my tent and late at night I never felt threatened walking about – something missing from a lot of the big Irish festivals. I was also blown away by the cleanliness of the portaloos even by Monday morn!!! My musical highlights on Sunday were Bipolar Empire, Wallis Bird, Von Shakes, The Riptide Movement and Prairie Dawgs. Alongside the music, Vantastival cater to VW vans and campers – giving a beautiful and colourful backdrop to the grounds. It’s definitely a unique festival!
The Magic Moments guy (of course we bought the keyrings...)
So with all those positives about Vantastival I should make a few tiny suggestions! More food options please and it would be good if they weren’t all in the same location. More sink/showers would go a long way too – even though I’m not sure how much use they got! Better signage to the various areas and some more lighting at night would add to the vibe too. But even without all that, I was more than happy with my first Vantastival experience and think this is a festival that will only go from strength to strength in the coming years. I’d definitely recommend it!!!
See The Young Folk live from Vantastival in the Paddy Mirage tent here:
Its official folks, Festival Season in Ireland kicks off this weekend with Vantastival in Louth! This Summer I’m so excited by the festivals on offer and the line ups that are slowly beginning to take shape. For Metro Chica, I’ve decided to focus on the smaller, boutique style events that give support and recognition to our own incredible musicians as well as international talent. While Oxegen and Electric Picnic are shaping up to be crowd-pullers, I’m more looking forward to Vantastival, Sea Sessions, Cold Pro, Temple House and Castlepalooza (amongst others…). My aim is to get to as many of these as possible and snap the style, atmosphere and music on show. More than ever, we need to support our own and I look forward to a Summer of fun & frolics in fields all over the country listening to the likes of The Kanyu Tree, The Young Folk and The Danger Is (3 of my favourite right now).
If you’ve nothing else planned for this bank holiday weekend, why not head to Dunany Estate in Louth for the amazing Vantastival. Its gonna be a lovely sunny dry weekend so get your weekend tickets (€85) or day tickets (€40) and listen to the likes of Wallis Bird, Jamie Lawson, The Cast of Cheers & The Riptide Movement. Also its a BYOB festival – what more could you want!!!
*I just spotted that music loving lady Eyes Bigger Than My Belly is in the throes of planning her Vantastival outfits – make sure you say hi if you see her!*
I say it every year but next year, I’m DEFINITELY going to Coachella!!! By far my favourite of the US based festivals, I love everything about the annual sizzling meet up in April. Looking at the photos always gets me in the mood for my own festival season, and I’m already counting down the days until Sea Sessions at the end of June! Here are some of my favourite looks over this weekend at Coachella…
A recent but brilliant addition to the Dublin fashion scene is the Dublin Fashion Festival, taking place at the end of next week. As well as fashion shows and exhibitions, the festival has offers in shops, on beauty and hair, not to mention plenty of cocktails, snacks and treats! I’m planning on spending Thursday eve at Fashions Night Out in Brown Thomas, followed by cocktails in The Exchequer Bar and The Lost Society. On Saturday I’m getting a new haircut at The Art Team, before hitting the shops to take advantage of the many discounts on offer. What will you be doing?
I like a comfy bed and hot shower – what can I say! Delighted to see that the Sea Sessions gang have brought out an iPhone app too – no better way to keep on top of last-minute lineup changes and see what surf events are on. Speaking of the lineup, here’s the latest:
