48 Hours in Dublin: What's Actually On (28–30 Aug 2026)

Bon Jovi headline Croke Park on Sunday, Riverdance opens its 30th-anniversary run at the Gaiety on Friday, and 51,700 people watch US college football at the Aviva on Saturday. Here's how to fit all three into one weekend.

Friday evening

Land, drop your bags, and head into Dublin 2 — the theatre district around South King Street and Grafton Street is where Friday night happens.

Eat before the curtain at Fade Street Social, five minutes' walk from the Gaiety on the corner of Fade Street and South William Street (€€): wood-fired sharing plates, order the flatbread and a couple of small plates, and you'll still make the curtain if you're seated by 6.30pm.

The main event is Riverdance 30 - The New Generation — Gaiety Theatre, Fri 28 Aug, 7.30pm, price on the ticketer (tickets). Thirty years on from the Eurovision interval act that started it, this is still the show Dublin sends visitors to first — and it runs the whole weekend, so a sold-out Friday isn't the end of the story.

Musicals over dance? Mean Girls (Touring) — Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Fri 28 Aug, 7.30pm, price on the ticketer (tickets) plays the same night down in the Docklands, a 25-minute walk or a couple of stops on the Luas red line from South King Street. Want a gig instead of a stage show? GAZEFEST ft. Dreary, Silk, Sunstinger & Skyless — The Grand Social, Fri 28 Aug, 7pm, €13-€15 (tickets) is a shoegaze bill north of the river, doors at 7 and done well before midnight — the cheapest way into Friday night on this list.

Saturday

Morning: free and unhurried

Start at Fisherwoman, Fisherwoman: Camille Souter & Alberta Whittle — IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), Kilmainham, open Sat 29 Aug, Free (details). Admission is free every day of the run, which goes to 13 September, so there's no need to rush it — two Irish artists across six decades, and the one thing on this list that costs nothing. It's a 20-minute walk, or one Luas stop from Heuston, through Kilmainham past the Gaol.

Evening: pick your stadium — or skip both

Take the DART to Lansdowne Road for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic 2026 — Aviva Stadium, Sat 29 Aug, 5pm, price on the ticketer (tickets). Two US college teams play a full NCAA fixture in front of 51,700 people, most of whom have no rooting interest in either — Dublin treats it as the novelty it is, marching bands and all. Eat first at The Bridge 1859 on Shelbourne Road, eight minutes' walk from the ground and co-owned by members of the Irish rugby squad (€): order the fish and chips and you'll still make kickoff.

Not a football person? Mac DeMarco — Collins Barracks, Sat 29 Aug, 6pm, price on the ticketer (tickets) plays an outdoor show on the National Museum's grounds the same evening, and it's already showing limited availability. Prefer something heavier? Devin Townsend: Metamorphosis - Solo Tour 2026 — Ambassador Theatre, Sat 29 Aug, 7pm, price on the ticketer (tickets) is a stripped-down solo set from the Canadian prog-metal songwriter, five minutes from Riverdance's theatre district but a very different room.

Sunday

This is the one to build the weekend around. Bon Jovi — Croke Park, Sun 30 Aug, 5pm, price on the ticketer (tickets) play the Forever Tour to a full house on the north side, and Ticketmaster is already showing low availability — if you want in, book this before you book the flight.

Eat on the way at Fagan's on Drumcondra Road Lower, a 12-minute walk from the stadium (€): the carvery lunch is built for exactly this, food you can eat fast before a five o'clock kickoff. Get there by 3.30pm; it fills up before every Croke Park show.

If stadium rock isn't the plan, Super Furry Animals — Collins Barracks, Sun 30 Aug, 6pm, price on the ticketer (tickets) play the same outdoor stage Mac DeMarco used the night before, with Baxter Dury supporting. Want it loud and cheap instead? Live Tonite Presents: A Place To Bury Strangers — The Grand Social, Sun 30 Aug, 7.30pm, €11.50-€13 (tickets) is the noise-rock closer for anyone still standing, and the only ticket all weekend with a published price under €15.

If you only do one thing: Bon Jovi — Croke Park, Sun 30 Aug, 5pm, price on the ticketer (tickets). A stadium tour with low availability already showing, and Croke Park at full voice isn't something that happens on a normal Sunday.

The practical bit

Airport to centre: Airlink 747 runs from Dublin Airport to the city centre (O'Connell Street, then on to Heuston) in about 30 minutes, €8 one-way, every 10-15 minutes. Aircoach costs a euro more and covers south-side hotels around Ballsbridge — useful if you're staying near the Aviva. A taxi is €30-35 and only worth it once the buses stop for the night.

Getting around: The theatre district, the Grand Social and the Ambassador Theatre are all walkable from each other inside 20 minutes. Croke Park and the Aviva both sit on rail lines — Drumcondra station for Croke Park, Lansdowne Road for the Aviva — so build the DART or a short walk into your timing rather than a taxi through match traffic. Collins Barracks and IMMA share the Luas red line from Heuston, one stop apart.

Weekend budget: The two events here with a published price — GAZEFEST (€13-€15) and A Place To Bury Strangers (€11.50-€13) — cost under €30 combined, and IMMA is free every day of the run. Everything else, including Bon Jovi, Riverdance and the football, is priced only on Ticketmaster's own listing pages rather than anywhere that can be checked in advance, so budget for those separately once you've picked seats. Food and drink runs €40-55 a day if you're eating out for every meal; transport is another €20-25 across the weekend. Call it €150-200 (roughly £130-175) for food, drink and transport alone, before whatever the stadium shows cost on top.

FAQ

What's on in Dublin this weekend (28-30 August 2026)? Bon Jovi play Croke Park on Sun 30 Aug, Riverdance opens a 30th-anniversary run at the Gaiety Theatre on Fri 28 Aug, and the Aer Lingus College Football Classic brings US college football to the Aviva Stadium on Sat 29 Aug. Mac DeMarco and Super Furry Animals both play outdoor shows at Collins Barracks on consecutive nights, and IMMA's Camille Souter and Alberta Whittle exhibition is free and open all weekend.

Is Dublin worth a weekend trip? Yes, particularly this one — a stadium tour, a novelty American sports fixture and a 30-year-old Irish institution landing on the same three days is not the usual spread. The centre is compact enough to cover on foot, and flights from the UK are under 90 minutes.

How many days do you need in Dublin? Two full days covers the city centre, Kilmainham and the Docklands comfortably. Add a third if you want to get out to Howth or the Wicklow coast, both under an hour away.

Doing a different weekend? 48 hours in Edinburgh and 48 hours in Porto get the same treatment.

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