Brought to you by Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons.
The sun is shining, school is out for summer; now is the time to pack a picnic and head out for some fun in the great outdoors!
We know Irish weather is notoriously unreliable, but don’t let that stop you; with the right raincoats and an umbrella or two, there's no reason to while away a warm day indoors.
From the educational to the sporty, Ireland is home to some fantastic entertainment options for kids of all ages.
Welcome to your incredible shared moments of joy - in association with Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons.
1) Galway International Arts Festival, Galway: July 17- July 30
If surreal giant puppets, enchanting music and awe-inspiring street theatre sound like your cup of tea, Galway International Arts Festival will take your breath away. A celebration of extraordinary experiences - a creative collision of performance, music, visual art, theatre and spectacle - the next two weeks will see acts like Ladysmith Black Mambazo take over the Big Top while volunteers construct a life-sized cardboard building in Eyre Square, led by the French artist
Olivier Grossetête.
2) Ballina Salmon Festival, Mayo: July 9- July 16
The
Ballina Salmon Festival has been running for over 50 years, with a whopping 200,000 people set to descend on the town this month for a host of community-based, family friendly fun. The action-packed programme includes a wealth of activities to keep little minds enthralled, from Heritage Day and Mardi Gras to a fireworks display and river-based events like fishing competitions and raft races.
3) Wings Food Festival, Wicklow: July 15 and July 16
If you're wondering what kind of fare will on offer for your hungry brood to enjoy in Bray this weekend, the clue is in the title: this is a celebrations of the humble chicken wing, right on the Bray seafront! Taste your way around the food stalls while listening to live music throughout the weekend and vote for your favourite chicken wing flavour in the poll. There's also a barbecue pitt where wannabe BBQ kings and queens can pick up some valuable tips and tricks for those family cook-outs.
4) Cork City Gaol, Cork: 9:30am to 5pm daily
Get a fascinating insight into day to day prison life in the Rebel County by stepping back in time to the 19th century at Cork City Gaol. Wandering through the deserted corridoors, the atmosphere suggests you are accompanied by the shuffling feet of inmates. The cells are furnished with amazingly life like wax figures; original graffiti on cell walls tell the innermost feelings of some inmates while a very spectacular audio visual tells the social history and contrasting lifestyles of the 19th century Cork and why some people turned to crime.
Children's tickets are a reasonable €5, €8 for adults.
5) Beautiful Beasts at The Ark, Dublin, until August 27
Visit a weird and wonderful collection of animal sculptures (along with a brand new limestone seal) at The Ark in Dublin's Temple Bar. Amongst this quirky, lovable menagerie, you will find a flying horse, a tortoise with a secret story and a toucan in disguise! Inspired by the sculptures, kids can use The Ark's creative stations to create their own animal-themed artworks afterwards. Entry is free.
Colouring; puzzles; recipes, and more: our HerFamily Shared Moments Of Joy PDF will keep your little ones entertained for hours. You can find it here.
And if you have a child aged six years or older, make sure to enter our amazing Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons competition to be in with a chance of winning a spot on our big family day out at Karibu Farm on July 27.
Alpacas and pot belly pigs appeal to kids and grown-ups alike, so Karibu Pet Farm will entertain mum, dad, granny and uncle Jim equally. This family run pet farm in Maddenstown, Co. Kildare even boasts a playground complete with zip wire, swing boats and large indoor and outdoor picnic areas (so your sandwiches don't get soaked if it happens to pour down during your visit!
That's not all: all participants will be awarded a goodie bag and certificate. All you have to do is fill out the form below:
