Sibin 09

Welcome to the Sibín, a festival designed to bring all tribes together at the start of May in celebration of the coming summer.

This years festival:
Saturday 2nd May 2009, 12pm – Till Late
Man O’ War, Balbriggian, Co. Dublin

With six stages, 50 acts and 14 hours of pure fun and quality music ; Sibín will bring some of the capital’s most popular and most neglected music genres together, guaranteeing a mad session of good music and great fun!

Sibín is brought to you by veterans of the Irish and European festival circuit who have brought their collective experience and love of partying together to make a festival that stands out from the crowd. While the last few years has seen an explosion of festivals around Ireland, we felt the need to represent the above styles of music in an intimate environment which was as close to Dublin as possible so everyone could enjoy it.

The word Sibín, or Sheebeen, is of Irish origin and has been used in Ireland, Scotland, Southern Africa and the Carribbean for centuries to describe various kinds of illicit and after hours establishments. Places where alcohol was consumed, music played and merriment had. In the sixties and seventies the word was commonly used among the West Indian community in the UK to describe the kind of after hours sessions often held in private houses where reggae sound system played, chalice blazed, and man and woman danced till the early hours.

2009 it may be, and yes we are fully licensed, but we intend to recapture the magic and spirit of the late night sessions of yore with our Sibín. Musically we want to promote both new and old sounds, electronic and acoustic alike. It will also be a celebration of artistic creativity and expression of all kinds, with the venue being transformed into a visual and auditory wonderland for the day.

The site itself, on the grounds of one of the oldest pubs in the country, is in a beautiful rural part of north Co. Dublin. We want to keep it that way and so we have placed the ‘leave no trace’ ethic at the very core of the event. The festival hopes to promote ecologically aware living and sustainability, and we are confident that festival goers will share in this vision and minimize their impact on the local environment.

So kick off your summer in fine style with the biggest session of the year… down at the Sibín!