Event of the weekLily Allen: Performs West End GirlTuesday, June 30th/Wednesday, July 1st, 3Arena, Dublin, 6.30pm, €88.25/€67.70/€51.20, ticketmaster.ieLily Allen released her album West End Girl to huge acclaim last year. Lyrically, it focuses on the breakdown of her marriage to the US actor David Harbour. For this stripped-back arena tour she’s performing its songs, which incorporate pop, dance hall and R&B, as what has been described as a fearless one-woman show. The first section is a 30-minute run-through of Allen’s best-known songs, including The Fear, Not Fair, Smile and F**k You, performed solely by the Dallas Minor cello strio, the lyrics projected on screens for the audience to sing along to. Allen comes out for the second section, a theatrically staged hour in which she performs the whole of West End Girl over a backing track. She originally staged this unconventional show in theatres, with mixed success, according to some who saw it. This arena incarnation has reportedly overcome such early issues, reviewers calling it powerful and compelling.GigsEthel CainSaturday, June 27th, Fairview Park, Dublin, 7pm, €68.65, ticketmaster.ieOne of the more pleasantly surprising crossover stories of the past few years is the success of Ethel Cain, whose shadowy, Twin Peaks-like songs have struck a chord with people who think of Lana Del Rey as too flamboyant. The American has released two hugely popular song-based albums, Preacher’s Daughter, from 2022, and Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You, from last year. Also in 2025, Cain issued Perverts, a drone/dark ambient album that you might say divided fans. Expect a singular stage show, full of moods and silhouettes, with little audience interaction or between-song small talk. In keeping with Cain’s anti-pop sensibilities, the special guest is the Scottish drone piper (and sometime Caroline Polachek collaborator) Brìghde Chaimbeul. Florence + the MachineSaturday, June 27th, Thomond Park, Limerick, 5pm, €85.90/€69.90; Sunday, June 28th, Marlay Park, Dublin, 4pm, €85.90/€69.90, ticketmaster.ieFlorence Welch has a deserved reputation for theatrical presentations of baroque pop and alternative rock, albeit to the point at which she has been incorrectly labelled as eccentric. Rather, across six studio albums, from the 2009 release Lungs to Everybody Scream, from 2025, Welch has delivered fulfilling, explicitly feminine music that matches her interests in folk horror, mental instability and romanticism. Fans of dramatic and beautifully controlled art-pop should do their best to nab a ticket.Hayley WilliamsHayley Williams. Monday, June 29th, and Tuesday, June 30th, National Stadium, Dublin, 7pm (sold out), ticketmaster.ieThe US singer Hayley Williams is taking time out from her frontwoman duties with the punk-pop band Paramore to plug her third solo album, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. These two sold-out shows are the final dates in the singer’s inaugural solo tour, so expect a complete run-through of her solo work, and a cover version or two, but no Paramore songs. Family KaleidoscopeFrom Friday, July 3rd, until Sunday, July 5th, Russborough House, Blessington, Co Wicklow, 1pm, €68.40/€46.35, kaleidoscopefestival.ie/ticketmaster.ieFollowing a significant upgrade for 2026, Kaleidoscope, Ireland’s largest summer family event, offers an improved experience for adults with children, with a dedicated, quieter camping area, enhanced toilet facilities and new campsite kitchens with barbecue areas and washing-up zones. Music acts over the weekend include Natasha Bedingfield, The Saw Doctors, Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, Mark McCabe, Zaska, Mundy and The Jerry Fish Electric Sideshow. Family-friendly events include the National Reptile Zoo, School Fitness Ireland, Wobbly Circus, Ruth Shine School of Dance, and MTU Robotics.Arts festivalClonmel Junction Arts FestivalFrom Friday, July 3rd, until Sunday, July 12th, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, various venues, times and prices, junctionfestival.comClonmel Junction Arts Festival has been at the heart of a vital community arts scene ever since 2001. This year’s theme of cultural exchanges honours the festival’s dedication to delivering an accessible and inclusive arts programme. Highlights include The Seven Rivers of the Sun: A Procession of Light (Friday, July 3rd, Kickham Plaza, 10pm), The Debt Is Settled, by Tonie Walsh (Saturday, July 4th, Showgrounds Shopping Centre Theatre, 8pm, €15), Clonmel Story Slam (Sunday, July 5th, Baker’s, 8pm, €13), Muck (A Rehearsed Reading), by Roseanna Purcell (Tuesday, July 7th, Showgrounds Shopping Centre Theatre, 8pm, €10) and Muireann Bradley (Friday, July 10th, Old St Mary’s Church, 9pm, €25).Aurfest 26Sexy Tadhg is part of the Aurfest 26 line-up. Friday, July 3rd, and Saturday, July 4th, Bellurgan Park, Dundalk, Co Louth, 2pm, €150/€85, aurfest.ieAurfest was recently announced as the winner of the Imro Small Festival Award, and that’s good news for grassroots events. The festival’s tagline of “Big enough to feel electric, small enough to stay real” underlines its mission to deliver an alfresco experience of music, comedy and DJs in a setting of natural beauty. The excellent line-up of Irish music acts includes Sexy Tadgh, Turn, Ria Rua, Adore, Messy Avocado, Stoat and Disko Volante; comedy acts include Joe Rooney, Patrick McDonnell, Edwin Sammon, Breda Hegarty and Shinanne Higgins. Visual artThe Future Is OpenUntil Saturday, August 29th, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan, Co Meath, solsticeartscentre.ie Marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of Navan’s Solstice Arts Centre, this showcase exhibition of work by more than 20 Irish artists celebrates the potential of human experience in post-AI periods and global environmental emergencies. The themes are presented via sculptural installation, painting and photography, as well as a film programme that includes work by Willie Doherty, Niamh McCann, Barbara Knežević and Patrick Hough. Still running0800 Cupid0800 Cupid. Tuesday, June 30th, Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo, 8pm, €20/€18, hawkswell.com; Friday, July 3rd, and Saturday, July 4th, Siamsa Tíre, Tralee, Co Kerry, 8pm, €20/€18, siamsatire.comConcluding its national tour, Emer Dineen’s hugely engaging cabaret musical is set in the London drag club Pinky’s, where Cupid (Dineen) relates a sequence of dramatic biographical episodes that effortlessly negotiate profound grief and glitzy humour. Phillip McMahon directs for Thisispopbaby. Book it this weekBluey’s Big Play, 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, August 20th-30th, ticketmaster.ieSirens/Lisa Hannigan, Cork Opera House, September 27th, soundsfromasafeharbour.comRhiannon Giddens, Vicar Street, Dublin, September 30th, ticketmaster.iePhoebe Bridgers, 3Arena, Dublin, November 23rd, ticketmaster.ie