On Sunday, the 10th of May, Dublin will once again tip its hat to one of the most charming international gatherings of the year.
The World Hat Walk returns for its third annual celebration, and this will be Dublin's third year joining cities around the globe in taking part. What began as an idea in London has grown into a worldwide event, with more than 100 cities across over 30 countries preparing to step out in style.
The only requirement is simple: wear a hat.
It can be hand felted, sewn, inherited, borrowed, handmade, or bought that very morning. Grand or understated, dramatic or whimsical: every hat is welcome. The spirit of the day is simply to celebrate creativity, individuality, and the quiet delight of seeing a park full of people who decided that 'naked heads' would not do.
This year’s Dublin Hat Walk will also include a few friendly hat competitions, kindly judged by artist and illustrator Louise Boughton.
Categories:
- Most Fun Hat
- Most Elegant Hat
- Most Irish Hat
- Largest Hat
- Smallest Hat
- And perhaps a few surprise categories!
When: Sunday, the 10th of May
Where: Meet at Fusiliers' Arch, St Stephen's Green, Dublin, D02 HX65 at 2 PM. At around 2:15, we will proceed to the centre of the park. Afterwards, if there is interest, we may gather at Peaches, located on the northeast corner of the park.
There is something wonderfully old-fashioned and unexpectedly joyful about a Hat Walk. It asks very little, but a stroll transforms an ordinary Sunday afternoon into something memorable. A hat becomes an invitation to conversation, to laughter, and to the kind of happy shared spectacle that we all could use a little bit more of in our lives.
For anyone curious about the global scale of the event, an interactive map of the participating cities can be found on the Hat Community website - https://www.hatcommunity.com/world-hat-walk-directory
The logistics of these various city walks have been gracefully organised by milliner Tatiana Ashakova of Beretkah - https://beretkah.co.uk/world-hat-walk
Some of the Instagrams associated with the event: @dublin_hat_walk_ie @worldhatwalk @hatcommunity.official @louiseboughton_