Don't expect to find yourself sitting on a beach licking an icecream cone this Bank Holiday weekend. Or if you do, then bring an umbrella. Ms Deirdre Lowe of Met Eireann predicts a changeable weekend, with showery outbreaks and humid weather. The best weather will be found in the north and north west where dry spells and hazy sunshine are expected.
But sunshine isn't a necessity for many of the events being held all over the State this weekend.
Fun rather than sun is on the menu at the Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny which started yesterday and runs until Monday. It will feature comedians such as Eddie Bannon, Dara O'Briain and Deirdre O'Kane.
The Heineken Green Energy Festivals come to Cork and Galway for the first time and are expected to bring 30,000 people into each city over the weekend.
Acts such as Moby, Counting Crows, Van Morrison and Robert Plant will feature at the two festivals.
If you are of a more literary bent, then you can choose between the Listowel Writers' Week, the Inis Cealtra Festival in Mountshannon Hotel, Co Clare, the poetry reading in Galway Arts Centre and the Goldsmith Summer School in Longford/ Westmeath.
Festivals are being held in Waterford, Castle Coole in Fermanagh and in Leixlip, Co Kildare. Meanwhile, the Hollywood Stunt Show continues its tour of Ireland. It moves from Booterstown to Swords in Dublin to Mullingar and then on to Naas and Northern Ireland for the rest of the month. Boy scouts from all over Dublin are flocking to the Millennium Camp at the Larch Hill scout site in Dublin over the weekend.
The National Lottery is entering into the spirit of the Bank Holiday weekend with a prize of a £10,000 trip to Disneyland in Florida for "Match 5 plus the bonus" winners. Tomorrow night's jackpot is more than £1.5 million.
On Sunday, the Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final between Limerick and Cork will be held in Thurles and the Leinster Senior Football Championship between Meath and Offaly is in Croke Park. On Monday, all the GAA action is in Tullamore with the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship between Laois and Dublin and the Leinster Senior Football Championship between Laois and Westmeath. A three-day horse trial is being held in Blarney, while racing is on at Naas, Sligo, Leopardstown and Tralee. Up to 200,000 people are expected to travel by rail over the June Bank Holiday weekend, while 100,000 more passengers will take the bus, according to Bus Eireann.
Passenger figures released by Aer Rianta show that this weekend will be the busiest to date, with over 340,000 expected to pass through Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports.
