Music
22 Sep 26

U2 celebrate 50th anniversary with events to be held around Dublin

The Little Museum of Dublin will offer 2,000 fans free entry to their U2 exhibition, U2: Made in Dublin.

U2 are set to celebrate their 50th anniversary this weekend, with several events scheduled around Dublin.

Welcome to the Northside will put on their annual U2 Fan Festival, with special shows from two U2 tribute bands.

Zooropa will open the weekend with a performance on Friday at Opium Dublin, blending fan favourites with "deep cuts and hidden gems," according to a statement.

This will be followed by U2Baby, who will perform at the Button Factory on Saturday, focusing on U2's later years and biggest hits. A free acoustic session at The Wild Duck in Temple Bar, featuring Desire, with Derek Power, will then take place on Sunday.

This year marks 10 years of Welcome To The Northside, with 1,300 people set to join the celebration from 28 countries and 231 cities. Presented in association with the U2 Dublin Fan Club, the live shows form part of a wider weekend programme across the city, including fan meet-ups, guided U2 walks, a movie screening and more.

Along with that, the Little Museum of Dublin will offer 2,000 fans free entry to their U2 exhibition, U2: Made in Dublin.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Ireland is putting out a €2 commemorative coin on Friday.

MusiCares also recently announced U2 as their 2027 Persons of the Year - marking the first time the honor covers all members jointly.

Across the sea, the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris is offering a free photo exhibition running tomorrow through December 18, titled: U2: an Irish Story - put together by Tourism Ireland and Paris Match.

Tickets for the Zooropa and U2Baby shows are available here.

Becoming U2, by Brian O’Connell, tells the extraordinary story of the night that the four-piece from the Northside of Dublin played their first ever official gig as U2, in a band competition – and won! – thereby changing the course not just of Irish music but of popular music across the world. Becoming U2 is published by Hot Press Books. The hardback is available exclusively from the shop on hotpress.com.