11-16 June 2025
Come celebrate more than 121 years of Bloomsday at The Bloomsday Festival on 11-16 June 2025!
Bloomsday celebrates Thursday, 16 June 1904, the day immortalised in James Joyce’s 1922 novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, one of the novel’s protagonist (the other being Stephen Dedalus, the protagonist of Joyce’s 1916 novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Joyce’s literary alter ego). The novel follows Bloom’s life and thoughts — as well as those of Stephen and a host of other characters, real and fictional — from 8am to the early hours of the following morning.
Bloomsday celebrations come in many different forms: readings, performances, walking tours, concerts, lectures, art exhibitions, children’s events, yoga (yes, really), and even our famous Bloomsday breakfast with pork kidneys! One iconic feature is that people will dress up like the characters in Edwardian fashion. One of the hallmark dress items found on the streets of Dublin that day is the straw boater hat, a fashionable and iconic summer hat donned by many at the time — including none other than Joyce himself!
The James Joyce Centre has organised the Bloomsday Festival since 1994. The Centre will host several events throughout the week. In addition, we work with several theatres, museums, libraries, tour guides, collectives, and other institutions throughout Dublin to bring Joyce’s work to life. There will be more than 100 separate events throughout the city.
The Bloomsday Festival is supported by Fáilte Ireland, Olhausen’s Sausages, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
