Event guide: Stevie Wonder, Dublin Book Festival and the other best things to go to in Ireland in the week ahead

Event of the week

Stevie WonderSunday, November 1st, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €201/€171/€151 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

The tickets might have bruising prices, but as they’ve sold out, it seems that fans of one of the most influential songwriters and musicians of the past 60 years don’t mind taking the punch. Stevie Wonder plays Ireland as part of his European tour to mark the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, the album that’s widely regarded as his signature work – and one of the greatest in the history of popular music. He’ll be performing the double LP in its entirety, along with a recently released four-track EP of previously unissued songs from the original sessions. Casual fans hoping for a string of Wonder’s many other radio-friendly songs will need to look elsewhere: this show is for the diehards.

Gigs

KornMonday, November 2nd, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €98.75/€85.75 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

Widely credited as the originators of nu-metal (a term they dislike), Korn return to Ireland for the first time in 10 years. They bring with them a back catalogue that has seen them sell more than 40 million records worldwide, plus the possibility of a few new songs for their highly anticipated, as-yet-untitled 15th album. Support is from the Brighton metalcore band Architects and the industrial-music duo Youth Code.

Alison Moyet

Monday, November 2nd, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €78.25/€61.85 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie; Tuesday, November 3rd, Waterfront Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £70/£38 (sold out), ticketmaster.ie

Alison Moyet’s solo show consists of songs from two hugely underrated Yazoo albums (Upstairs at Eric’s, from 1982, and You and Me Both, from the following year, both of which she made as a duo with Vince Clarke, who had recently left Depeche Mode) and her solo albums The Minutes, from 2013, and Other, from 2017. Expect superb electropop tracks such as Only You, Winter Kills and Nobody’s Diary, plus deep-cut gems such as Happy People and The Rarest Birds. These Irish shows bring her European tour to an end.

Dexys Midnight RunnersWednesday, November 4th, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, 7pm, €61.35/€56.35, ticketmaster.ie; Thursday, November 5th, Ulster Hall, Belfast, 7pm, £55/£44, ulsterhall.co.uk; Friday, November 6th, Black Box Theatre, Galway, 8pm, €51, tht.ie

By Dexys Midnight Runners’ historical standards, three albums in 10 years is extremely productive. But the last of those, their recently released seventh album, Love, produced by Belfast’s David Holmes, is reportedly their swansong. With luck, Kevin Rowland, their mainstay, will continue to gather his smartly dressed, soulcentric troupe for live performances, which is where they can soar.

Festivals

Dublin Book FestivalFrom Wednesday, November 4th, until Sunday, November 8th, various venues, times and prices, dublinbookfestival.com

Now 20 years old, Dublin Book Festival begins its 2026 edition with The Next Chapter, with Louise Kennedy and Jan Carson, as part of the Irish Times Women’s Podcast Book Club, hosted by Róisín Ingle (Wednesday, November 4th, 1 Windmill Lane, 6.30pm, €12). Subsequent highlights include The F Word, with Kevin Power, Rory Gleeson, Cathy Sweeney and Aingeala Flannery (Saturday, November 7th, Royal Irish Academy of Music, 3.30pm, €8); The Politics of Commercial Fiction, with Marian Keyes, Maria Buter, Vicki Notaro and Aoife Barry (Sunday, November 8th, Royal Irish Academy of Music, 11am, €8); and Jodi Picoult in conversation with Miriam O’Callaghan (Sunday, November 7th, Royal Irish Academy of Music, 5pm, €27/€12, sold out).

ImramFriday, November 6th, until Sunday, November 15th, various venues, times and prices, Dublin city, imram.ie

Music and literature, storytelling and poetry, folklore and multimedia shows all feature at this Irish-language festival. The opening event, with the storyteller Daithí Ó Muirí and music from Fergus Kelly, is at Músaem Na nGréibhlí/Museum of Curiosities (Friday, November 6th, 7pm/8pm, €15/€12). Other highlights include Diamaint agus Meirg/Diamonds and Rust: The Dylan-Baez Project (Saturday, November 14th, Smock Alley, 7.30pm, €20/€15), which explores the creative and personal dynamic between Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and features a selection of their songs translated into Irish and performed by Colm Seoighe and Emma Ní Fhíoruisce.

Stage

Disco PigsFrom Saturday, October 31st, until Saturday, November 14th, Everyman Theatre, Cork, 8pm, €37/€31/€25, everymancork.com

Although not his first staged work, Disco Pigs, which debuted at Triskel Arts Centre in Cork in 1996, was the starting point for the acclaimed playwright Enda Walsh (and for its young actors, Cillian Murphy and Eileen Walsh). This production sees Walsh take the director’s chair for the 30th anniversary of the audacious drama, now featuring Aoise Meany and Séamus McLean Ross as Runt and Pig, two teenagers with a perilously devoted friendship.

Visual art

Edith Karlson: Well, Well, WellFrom Friday, November 6th, until Sunday, February 14th, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, free, thedouglashyde.ie

Edith Karlson, a fascinating artist from Estonia, works with armatures and clay, creating detail-rich, wraithlike sculptures of animals, humans and hybrid figures that together question our position in a frail, unsure world. This exhibition features a blend of existing and newly commissioned pieces that situate the well, venerable site of pilgrimage, as a profound source of ideas and stories.

Next weekend

Dublin Gallery WeekendThursday-Sunday, November 5th-8th, various venues, mainly free, dublingalleryweekend.ie

The 11 venues that make up the Contemporary Art Gallery Association come together for four days of art trails, conversation, cultural collaborations and workshops. Among the artists whose work you can see are John Kindness, whose exhibition Mythologies is at the Molesworth; David Hockney and Amelia and Stein, at Oliver Sears; and Sonia Shiel, whose show The Nature of Tables is at Kevin Kavanagh.

Book it this week

Big Maggie, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, January 29th-March 6th, ticketmaster.ie

Giggly Squad, 3Arena, Dublin, March 12th, ticketmaster.ie

Spiritualized, NCH, Dublin, March 31st, nch.ie

Tindersticks, Vicar Street, Dublin, May 9th, ticketmaster.ie