All additional tickets released for BOREALIS have now been booked.

SOLD OUT

BOREALIS

Friday 28 October – Monday 31 October at  7pm, 8pm & 9pm.

Dublin Castle’s Upper Courtyard. Enter via Dame St, Dublin 2.

FREE, but ticketed. 

BOREALIS, a  mesmerising installation of light and sound, will bring the experience of an aurora borealis to Dublin Castle’s Upper Courtyard every night during Bram Stoker Festival 2022, from Friday 28th October until Monday 31st October. This event is free but ticketed – book below. 

An artwork by internationally renowned Swiss artist Dan Acher, BOREALIS has wowed hundreds of thousands of people across the globe.  Its lush visuals and soundscape utterly transforms the sky above your head and time seems to slow down as you gaze at the mesmerising lights in a breath-taking experience of true awe and wonder. 

Throughout the ages, humankind has been enchanted by this natural phenomenon in the night sky; in some cultures, these flickering, dancing lights were seen as a sign of impending doom; in others, they were thought to be ancient ancestors communicating with their living descendants. Indeed, Stoker references dark clouds, strange weather and unexplainable lights in the sky to foreshadow the doom and destruction unleashed by Dracula in Whitby and beyond. 

Combining a tranquil soundtrack with colourful, moving light beams in a blend of technology and art, Borealis inspires shared emotions in the centre of a city by creating something truly magical and surprising – something that shouldn’t naturally be there – and creates a sense of community by bringing together people from all walks of life for this truly unique experience.

This spectacular immersive installation, inspired by the Northern Lights, will take place in the Upper Courtyard in Dublin Castle where Bram Stoker once worked. 

BOREALIS is kindly supported by The Office of Public Works which manages Dublin Castle.

SOLD OUT

Door Times

7pm event: Doors open at 18:30 – please do not arrive before then. Latecomers will be admitted, but please note that the installation ends at 19:31.

8pm event: Doors open at 19:45 – please do not arrive before then. Latecomers will be admitted, but please note that the installation ends at 20:31.

9pm event: Doors open at 20:45 – please do not arrive before then. Latecomers will be admitted, but please note that the installation ends at 21:31.

Important Information

Age Suitability: All ages (Under 18s must be accompanied by a parent / guardian)

Duration: 31 minutes.

Please Note: This is an outdoor event. Please dress appropriately. We advise wearing flat shoes as the courtyard is partially cobbled.

Dogs / Animals: No animals are allowed at the event, other than assistance dogs (such as guide dogs).

Accessibility: The venue is wheelchair accessible. Please note that the courtyard has cobblestones. There are no toilet facilities available.

Buggies / Prams: Due to the space available in the Upper Courtyard at Dublin Castle, every person (including children and children/babies in buggies) must have a ticket to attend Borealis. Babies in slings do not require a ticket.

Walk Up Tickets / Waiting List

Walk Up Tickets: Please do not attend BOREALIS if you do not have a ticket. There will be no walk-up tickets available at the venue. 

Waiting List: Due to the demand for tickets for BOREALIS, it is not possible to operate a waiting list for the event.

Dublin Castle on Google Maps: Click here for map link to Dublin Castle entrance. 

BOREALIS: A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON

Borealis has been by enjoyed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide; from London to Tokyo, Paris to Adelaide, people have gathered to experience this truly magical event. Our fascination with the Northern and Southern Lights is not new; for our our ancestors, they inspired awe and astonishment.  By recreating their majesty an urban environment, BOREALIS brings city-dwellers together for an other-worldly experience under one strange and beautiful sky. Hear what people had to say about BOREALIS in London last year:

AURORA BOREALIS: FACTS & LEGENDS

An Aurora’s dancing lights are formed when the sun’s electrically charged particles enter the earth’s atmosphere, colliding above the magnetic poles. This is known as the Aurora Borealis in the North and the Aurora Australis in the South. This spectacular solar phenomenon is one of nature’s greatest wonders, creating ethereal lights in a range of colours that dance and swirl across the night sky. 

For centuries, people have looked up in awe at this strange, majestic and beautiful sight, creating stories and legends about its importance and meaning. 

• It’s rare for the Northern Lights to appear over Southern Europe and such appearances require intense solar activity which usually results in red Auroras appearing in the night sky… until fairly recently, they were enough to terrify a populace unaware of the Aurora’s origin.
• Residents of France and Italy believed the lights to be a bad omen heralding the outbreak of anything from war to plague and death.
• In Scotland and England, the skies are said to have blazed red just a few weeks prior to the French Revolution and were later considered to have been a sign of the coming strife in their Gallic neighbour state.
• Inuits of Greenland imagined the souls of dead children playing in the sky. The auroras have always commanded respect among people in the north, and in times past, a good dose of fear as well.
• The aurora has long been seen as a harbinger of doom, perhaps because of its red, blood-like glow, in old tales in Poland, Prussia, Germany, Denmark, and Estonia, and among the Saami or Lapp people. 

DAN ACHER: THE ARTIST BEHIND BOREALIS

Dan Acher is an international artivist based in Switzerland, an Ashoka Fellow and the founder of Happy City Lab. At the centre of his work is art as a generator of both local and global social change. Dan uses cities as playgrounds to create a sense of belonging and community; his large-scale installations create spaces where strangers come together and connect beyond their differences. Dan has travelled widely exploring various cultures and studied social anthropology in New Zealand. He regularly participates in international panels and has featured in The Guardian, Slate, Vice, Creators Project, Mashable and Creative Review amongst others. In his TED Talk below, Dan talks about his art, and how it get strangers to interact, brings the extraordinary into everyday life and how artistic and participative installations can transform a neighbourhood.

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