Hallowe'en At The ArkIt’s Popular Music Week this midterm at The Ark in Temple Bar, Dublin. Write your own pop song and share it online, design your band’s t-shirt and album cover, try your hand at spinning discs like a professional DJ or join in a music jam. 7 days of popular music with a Halloween flavour will be running over the mid-term break. Kids are encouraged to come in costume to any event.

This autumn it’s all about popular music, inspiring the next generation of music makers and music lovers. If you can play a musical instrument great, then there will be lots of opportunities for you to do so but for those with no musical experience there will also be lots to enjoy and try your hand at for the first time.

Rock on Baby! Early years music workshops specially created for 2-4 year olds will encourage participation from these youngest audiences. Rock, pop and bop your way through these fun and upbeat music workshops where each child is accompanied by a participating adult.

For those a little older Beatboxer extraordinaire Whitenoise will return to The Ark with more of his exciting workshops on 29 and 30 Oct. In two separate workshops for ages 5-7 and ages 8-12 you learn to make the voice sound like a drum kit and get tips from this leading beatboxer.

On Saturdays 26 October and 27 October join in one of the popular music jams, bring your own instrument and play in a real jam session led by musician Peter Baxter. It will be just like joining a band – a super fun and friendly one! Some musical experience recommended to take part in these jam sessions.

Create your own music t-shirt to take home in a special workshop where using print block and silk screen techniques and led by artist Caroline Ryan, or design your own music album cover using fun collage and mixed-media art techniques in hands on workshops led by artist Jo May.

Join outstanding guitarist and technology whizz Shane Latimer and acclaimed vocalist and improviser Lauren Kinsella, together with exciting special guest cartoonist Patrick Sanders for Monster Music Improv, a Bank Holiday musical experience with a difference. Presented in partnership with the Improvised Music Company, the musicians will create funky jazzy melodies on-the-spot, while Patrick will draw cartoons of the music and lyrics live onto a huge screen behind them in a music improvisation and visual adventure not to be missed.

For a musical Halloween treat, presented in conjunction with the Bram Stoker Festival, young musicians are invited to join in The Bram Jam a popular music session inspired by the writer’s spooky stories. This open jam session will be lead by professional musicians and families are encouraged to come along and watch. (Some musical experience recommended for this event).

On the bank holiday (28 Oct) children are encouraged to put on their Halloween costumes and relax in the ‘Halloween Hang out zone’ as The Ark is filled with the spinning discs and scratching vinyl of DJ Moschops. Or if you want to try your own hand at spinning some discs yourself then join the DJ workshops (1 Nov) with DJ Moshops where you will learn real DJing skills such as scratching, mixing, sampling, and putting special sound FX onto the music to create your own sounds.

Create your own silly and scary Halloween lyrics and then come up with melodies and rhythms to turn them into a spooky-style pop song in this Spooky Songwriting Workshop (for ages 5-7) and for ages 8-12). You will even have a chance to record them and they will be available the next day at ark.ie/live. No musical experience is necessary to take part.

Now booking at: www.ark.ie Tel: 01 670 67788