Daytrippers

Seven things to do this week.

TODAY Over 100 slam-dunking basketball teams around the country battled it out last year until only 16 were left standing. Over the weekend, the National Cup Basketball Finals are expected to attract capacity crowds of more than 10,000 to the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght, Dublin. Tickets on the door or from Basketball Ireland on 01-4590211. The event continues tomorrow.

TOMORROW Students from School No 1 in Beslan, the site of the terrorist siege in southern Russia in September last year, are being remembered tonight at the National Concert Hall. The Beslan Memorial Concert is presented by the Ireland Russia Association and features Tchaikovsky symphonies and concertos with conductor Alexander Anissimov. Tickets €100, €50 €40 and €30. Box office 01-4170000.

MONDAY Irish comedian Eddie Naessens brings his new one-man show Little Terror to the International Bar on Wicklow Street Dublin. Perhaps best known as that nasty doctor from Fair City, Naessens says the show is "one man's war on terror and pessimism", a journey inspired by his recent battle with a rare form of cancer which left him permanently deaf in one ear. Tickets €8/€5. 7 p.m. Runs until Sunday.

TUESDAY Tsunami fund-raisers continue with a six-course gourmet dinner at the Beaufield Mews Restaurant in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, which includes free entry into a "mystery raffle" for just €40 a head. The money will go to GOAL and help rebuild a farm in one of the affected areas. Tickets available from 01-2880375. www.beaufieldmews.com

WEDNESDAY If trumpets and trombones are your thing, head to the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, tonight for the Brass Band Festival featuring the very best of community and school bands. Tickets are £5. Doors 8 p.m., 048-66325440.

THURSDAY Fingathing co-headline a night of contemporary, innovative music and visuals; DJs Yoda (pictured left) and Tu-ki supply the scratches and beats. Live spray-painting/graphics also feature. A fine blend of multi-faceted goodies, all in support of the Irish Association of Suicidology (IAS). Doors 9 p.m., tickets €20, (01-4758555/1890-200078). The Village, Wexford Street, Dublin 2.

FRIDAY The money keeps pouring in: In Midleton, Co Cork, 25 artists from the area are each donating a work to be auctioned for the Red Cross Asia Disaster Appeal. The artwork can be viewed at the Courtyard Gallery on Main Street today, (021-4634644), and the auction will take place at 7.30 p.m. tonight.