Smashing Times Theatre and Film Company and Slí an Chroí in partnership with Dublin City Council and Dublin Institute of Technology are delighted to announce the 8th annual City of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival taking place on Thursday 21 December 2017 from 5.30-8pm. Indoor Festival: 5.30-7pm, DIT Grangegorman Campus The gathering begins. All are welcome to come and enjoy storytelling sessions, poetry readings, face painting and craft making to work on masks, banners and wreaths for the parade. Outdoor Festival and Parade Assembly: 7pm, An Croí – DIT Grangegorman Campus Parade assembles at 7pm and starts at 7.10pm, moving from DIT Grangegorman Campus to Smithfield Square and culminates in the Winter Solstice Fire Ceremony. 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. Come and gather with us on the darkest day, step into the warmth of the indoor festival for storytelling, poetry recitals, a céilí, music and craft making. Meet with The Sun and Snow Princesses, place your withies in the flame, join us in the colourful drum led parade to Smithfield Square and be there as we raise our fire to the world in a roaring climactic moment. Bring warm, colourful clothes to wear for the parade. Red and yellow colours are preferable. Please also feel free to carry you own battery operated lanterns, or a drum or rattle if you have one. Come and welcome the return of the light on this festive and magical night for family and friends to enjoy. The City Of Dublin Winter Solstice Celebration Festival is generously supported by Dublin City Council. This is a family friendly, participatory and inclusive...