Towns and cities across the country are gearing up to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Ireland’s annual cultural extravaganza, Culture Night, as it returns on Friday 18th September. From museums, galleries, libraries and theatres to cathedrals, parks and government buildings, venues from Dublin to off-shore islands will throw open their doors for FREE tours, workshops, readings, performances and demonstrations for all the family.

This year’s Culture Night, with the theme ‘Revolves Around You’, will have the biggest number of participating locations of 40 across the island of Ireland.

Food and drink highlights-

Downstairs Dublin – The Irish Times are once again curating and creating talks, architectural ideas, installations, foodie fun, gardens, a give-away library, projections and pop up events for a truly unique experience in the heart of Georgian Dublin. The food highlight for this year is ‘Soundbites’, a tantalising taste experience where as well as food, the menu will include topics of conversation. Participants will eat with a stranger and be led through a number of different questions and topics during the meal. It’s a chance to meet someone new, explore and engage, perhaps learn a little something – and eat something delicious of course!

Afra- Eorpach – Afra-Eorpach present a Cultural Food Cooking Tutorial. Learn how to make well-known dishes from the African Continent. Taste some of the food samples, and enjoy some African music. www.meetup.com/Afro-European-Exploration-Meet-up

Airfield Estate – Take a tour of the house and delve into the Overend family archive.  Sample some Airfield recipes from the Overends restaurant Chef, and even have the chance to taste Airfield’s own jersey herd milk. www.airfield.ie

My boyfriend, Rick Stein at Hodges Figgis – Dublin

Chef, restaurateur, cookery book author and television presenter Rick Stein will be in conversation with Newstalk’s Henry McKean in Hodges Figgis Dawson Street between 6 and 6.30pm. www.facebook.com/hodges.figgis

Bluefire on Smithfield Sq – On the eve of their annual Festival, BlueFire are delighted to bring their Smithfield Summer Picnics to Culture Night, but with a twist. Bask in the glow of candlelight, enjoy live music, performances and workshops. Pack some delicious treats and join the fun on Smithfield Square for an evening under the stars! www.bluefiredublin.ie

Teeling Whiskey Distillery – The first new distillery to open its doors in Dublin in over 125 years, the Teeling Whiskey Distillery is the ultimate destination for all whiskey fans from both home and abroad. Visitors on Culture Night will learn how the latest generation of Teelings in Jack and Stephen are carrying on the family’s legacy which originally began in 1782 with Walter Teeling opening a craft distillery on Marrowbone Lane in the Liberties area of Dublin. www.teelinghistory.com

L’Attitude 51 – Cork This is a follow-on event from last year’s hugely successful Wine Geese: The Next Generation event. Visitors on Culture Night can enjoy a virtual tasting which involves Irish winemakers around the world skyping into L’Atitude 51 from their respective locations for a virtual wine tasting. Dermot Sugrue of Wiston Estate, West Sussex; Marian Smith of Elgin Ridge, South Africa and Fleur McCree of Little Beauty, New Zealand joined the participants via skype on a big screen to talk through their wines, which were poured for participants in L’Atitude 51. www.latitude51.ie

Franciscan Well Brewery – Cork

Experience Cork’s Craft Beer Culture with a short brewery tour and beer tasting at the Franciscan Well Brewery. See how beer is made, learn about homebrewing and master the art of beer tasting…and some food pairing. www.franciscanwellbrewery.com

Dublin Bus will provide FREE buses every 20 minutes starting on Bachelor’s Walk, Aston Quay, Trinity College and Parkgate St bringing visitors to and from their favourite cultural quarters. These FREE buses will be fully programmed with on-bus entertainment!

Irish Rail and DART will offer 100 free family passes for travel on Culture Night itself.

In Cork, Bus Éireann will be providing 3 complimentary bus routes to cater for those on the cultural hunt.

The full programme of events and participating venues for Culture Night 2015 will be available onwww.culturenight.ie from the mid August.

Join the conversation online at http://www.facebook.com/CultureNight, http://www.twitter.com/CultureNight andwww.instagram.com/CultureNight #CultureNight # LoveCulture

Download the Culture Night APP for free in the ITunes App Store or in Google Play.