Feast of culture for Dublin

Hundreds of free exhibitions, tours, talks and performances will be held across the capital tonight.

Culture Night Dublin 2007 begins at 5pm, with more than 80 venues in the city keeping their doors open until 10pm.

Museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, historic houses, cathedrals, artists’ studios and cultural centres will open late, bringing visitors an array of entertainment, discovery and adventure.

Dublin Bus will also be providing courtesy transport between a host of locations in Temple Bar and north Liffey, Trinity College and Docklands, and the historic, South Georgian, North Georgian and Heuston and Museum quarters.

The event, which also features concerts, films and workshops, gives tourists and city dwellers the chance to explore and discover Dublin’s cultural life by night.

Actor Alan Stanford unveiling the luminous 80-year history of the Gate is among the highlights of the night.

Organisers hope up to 80,000 arts fans will be attracted in to the capital to experience its second Culture Night.