The Grand Social, Dublin
11am-5pm, Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th December 2023
Admission: FREE with suggested donation of €6,
split between Dublin Simon Community & The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF)
Merchy Christmas is back! A real-life merch market where all your favourite artists flog their wares directly to you, their fans. Established during the Christmas lock-down in 2020, it was the brainwave of Conor Cusack (Saint Sister’s manager) and Saint Sister. Chatting about ways to create a personal connection with their listeners and thank them for their support over the difficult year, 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. Merchy Christmas was born! Working with Keiron Black and the folks at The Grand Social (longstanding champions of the independent music community) they put together a two-day event across multiple floors, which 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 our 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.
“We are so grateful to the organisers and artists involved in Merchy Christmas. 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.” – Aisling Harmey, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Dublin Simon Community
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 we are hoping to raise more to share between our two partners. We will be pulling out all the stops, including 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
One Stop Band Shop are delighted to reveal the first 30 artists taking part this year:
Anna Mieke
Anamoe Drive
Aoife Nessa Frances
Celaviedmai
Chalk
Gemma Dunleavy
Gilla Band
Gurriers
Jape
John Francis Flynn
Joshua Burnside
Junior Brother
Just Mustard / Pizza Pizza Records
Kneecap
Kojaque / Kean Kavanagh (Soft Boy Records)
Lankum
Loah
Morgana
MELTS
Narolane & Rusangano Family
Nealo
Neil Dexter
Niamh Regan
Pillow Queens
Rachael Lavelle
Saint Sister
Scustin
Skinner
SPRINTS
Tandem Felix
The Scratch
THUMPER
Uly
Ye Vagabonds
With many more TBA!
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@Dublin_Simon
@TGSDublin
@_IAFP
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