Guess what's coming up next weekend?

That's RIGHT! It's full steam ahead with Animation Dingle Festival (23rd - 24th March 2018).

This year the festival boasts a screening of Cartoon Saloon's Oscar Nominated feature 'The Breadwinner', an excellent array of keynote speakers kicking off with Pixar's Bobby Podesta ( A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc.,Finding Nemo), a terrific shorts programme featuring a selection of industry and student shorts, including a not to be missed (if we do say so ourselves) Brown Bag Retrospective where Brown Bag Co-founder's Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O'Connell will do a Q&A!

Our Recruitment Team will also be at the Animation Alley - Portfolio Reviews on Saturday 24th! Be sure to put your request in via our Jobs page so as not to miss out on the day: Apply for the Portfolio Review at Animation Dingle

Other festival highlights include screenings of Mary and the Witch's Flower, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, Christmas in Dingle shorts, a selection of international shorts, workshops with creature designer Dan Katcher, artist Ryan Woodward, and VFX and character animator Keith Sintay. There will also be a Sketch Trail where mentors from the Irish Animation Industry will give participants tips and guidance on sketching and poses for animation. And following that an Animated Auction where some of the work donated from the Sketch Trail and also from industry professionals will be auctioned off for charity!

The International Student Animation Awards ceremony will take place on Friday 23rd at 8pm at Dingle Skellig Hotel, where the presentation of The Murakami Award, named in honour of Jimmy T. Murakami, will be made.

The YAOTY Awards, which features a selection of 1 minute animated films inspired by the theme “Under the Sea” from secondary school students from all over Ireland, will take place on Saturday 24th at 1.30pm in Saint James' Church.

All that, and did we mention it's based in one of the most idyllic locations in Ireland?

Find out more over at Animation Dingle and check out the full schedule here.