Not everyone shares JOE’s obsession with Andrea Pirlo’s beard, Xabi Alonso’s sartorial elegance or the number of furrows on Steven Gerrard’s forehead.
For those of you that don’t get the fuss about everything that’s going on out in Brazil, we’ve found a few alternative ways to spend your time over the next month, powered by Lucozade Energy.
Live at the Marquee in Cork
Even though we love our football, this is giving it some serious competition as we think about heading south and setting up camp in the People’s Republic.
The Coronas, Bob Dylan, Elbow, Biffy Clyro, Pixies, The Prodigy, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and The National among many others are making those of us who reside in Dublin very jealous indeed.
Check out further details here.
Body & Soul Festival, Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath
If Live at the Marquee has something for everyone (even Dolly Parton for the mammies), Body & Soul caters for those of you who like to discover new music in a unique setting.
Ballinlough Castle is an amazing setting “with a 15th century walled garden, it showcases a brilliant line up, secret hideaways and glittering late night discos in the woodlands, an inspirational art trail, spoken word and debate, a magnificent masquerade ball, culinary feasts, steaming hot tubs and seaweed baths and much much more,” according to the website.
You can check out the full line-up here, with the festival taking place from 20th to 22nd June.
Taste of Dublin, Iveagh Gardens, June 12th to 15th
An old favourite of ours, given that we’re massive fans of both the Iveagh Gardens and stuffing our faces.
Some of the country’s best restaurants transport fine dining to the Gardens that lie just behind St. Stephen’s Green, off Harcourt Street, in Dublin City Centre.
Chefs such as Michel Roux Jr., Tom Kitchin, Derry Clarke, Kevin Dundon, Ross Lewis and Darina Allen will all be in attendance for cooking demonstrations and the like – all we need now is for the rain to stay away and we’ll be sorted.
Check out full details of this year’s Taste here.
Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, Marlay Park, Dublin
Arguably the biggest one-off concert of the summer as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams head for Rathfarnham on July 2nd.
It feels like only five minutes since Kanye was here with the missus for a tour of the Midlands, but this time it’s all business as the man himself brings Yeezus over to this part of the world.
Not only that, but earworm extraordinaire Pharrell – the man responsible for roughly 77% of the songs we couldn’t get out of our heads over the last year – will also be doing his thing.
Westport Festival of Music and Food, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June
It’s all happening in Mayo towards the end of the month as the Westport Festival of Music and Food kicks off.
Bryan Adams, David Gray and The Divine Comedy make it one for the older stagers among us and this is very much geared towards the whole family, with a “weekend of entertainment with music from international and Irish musical acts, comedy, kid’s activities, delicious food village, quality purpose built on-site camping, beer tents and wine bars in a truly relaxed, friendly and chilled out atmosphere,” as they say themselves right here on the website.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
