Music
29 Nov 23

Merchy Christmas set to return for December 2023 featuring Kneecap, Pillow Queens, Rachael Lavelle and more

Merchy Christmas is set to take place once again this year at the Grand Social, from 11am-5pm, Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th December 2023.

Tis the season to eat, drink and be merchy as Merchy Christmas is back for the third year in a row. Merchy Christmas is a merch market where all your favourite Irish artists flog their wares directly to you, their fans.

Admission is free with suggested donation of €6, split between Dublin Simon Community & The Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF)

Established during the Christmas lock-down in 2020, Merchy Christmas was the brainchild of Saint Sister and their manager, Conor Cusack.

While chatting about ways to create a personal connection with their listeners and thank them for their support of the pandemic, they had the idea of a communal merch stall mixed with a Christmas market.

After reaching out to their pals like Lankum, Gilla Band, and Kojaque, it became clear that this was something lots of other artists wanted to be part of. Thus, Merchy Christmas was born.

A two-day event in The Grand Social set across multiple floors and it was hugely successful. 2021 saw the market return in full force. Once again, amidst challenging restrictions, it succeeded in raising much needed funds for the artists, and for a truly important cause, homelessness in Dublin.

Now in their fourth year, and bigger than ever, the crew are again focusing on helping to raise much needed funds for those in need. Levels of homelessness in Dublin are higher than ever, and we are proud to help raise money to support the much-needed work of Dublin Simon Community.

Head of Fundraising and Communications at Dublin Simon Community said of the event: “It’s commitment like this that keeps our vital services running, which are needed now more than ever as we grapple with the highest level of homelessness the country has ever seen. On behalf of our community, thank you so much for your support.”

In addition to helping those at home, Merchy Christmas are also raising money for those who need help further afield, specifically those suffering in the midst of the humanitarian crisis happening in Palestine. This year, alongside Dublin Simon Community, the event is proudly partnering with The Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), in association with Irish Artists for Palestine. IAFP works to unite and magnify an all-island voice of Palestinian solidarity through an ongoing arts and culture programme.

“Irish Artists for Palestine are thankful to the organisers of Merchy Christmas for choosing to fundraise for PCRF this year, who are working to meet the urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza during this devastating chapter in Palestine’s history”

Last year the weekender raised close to €10,000 for charity and this year Merchy Christmas are hoping to raise even more to share between our two partners.

Alongside the merchandise being sold, there will be a jumbo raffle each day, with limited-edition merch kindly donated by the artists taking part across the weekend. Irish Artists for Palestine will also have a stall selling their own merch with the proceeds also being donated to arts organisations in Gaza, through the Palestinian Performing Arts Network.

Mary Christmas 2023 will take place at The Grand Social, from 11am-5pm, Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th December.

The first wave of 30 artists announced to be taking part this year in Merchy Christmas 2023 are:

Anna Mieke

Anamoe Drive

Aoife Nessa Frances

Celaviedmai

Chalk

Gemma Dunleavy

Gilla Band

Gurriers

Jape

John Francis Flynn