DUBLIN CITY’S COLLEGE Green will be pedestrianised for 24 hours this weekend for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which is expected to draw big crowds. 

Dublin City Council has said that Dame Street, which is being renamed as Notre Dame Street for one weekend only, will be closed off to traffic from 8pm this Friday until 10pm on Saturday. 

The Notre Dame Street Event will see the city centre area transformed into the home of Notre Dame tailgating action on game day (Saturday), which will include cheer squad performances . 

The game is expected to draw 40,000 travelling fans, and to generate an estimated  €147 million for the local economy. 

In preparation for the large crowds, Dublin City Council, the Gardaí and the National Transport Authority have put plans in place to ensure the event “passess off smoothly”. 

The game itself kicks off at 7.30pm at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, marking Week Zero of the 2023 College Football season. 

#StreetClosure Please note that College Green/Dame Street will be closed from 8pm this Friday 25th August until 10pm Saturday 26th August for the Notre Dame Street Event! #NotreDamevsNavy #Dublin pic.twitter.com/nVnWJjtHQA

— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) August 23, 2023

Aer Lingus is the sponsor of the game, and will be flying both teams to Dublin this week ahead of the opening fixture. 

Tickets for the game are sold out, but a host of related events are taking place around the city. 

The Global Ireland Football Tournament 2023, a tripleheader of games, is taking place in Energia Park on Friday 25 August, and it will be headed up by four top US high school squads from Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

A series of events including pep rallies, medical summits, business, sporting, networking and academic events are planned to take place in Dublin throughout the next week. 

A schedule of activities, along with tickets for purchase to the games at Energia Park, are available through the Games Week App.

Padraic O’Kane, the director and co-founder of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic said that the week will be a “great festival of football”. 

“We’re encouraging all attendees to download the official ALCFC app which has all the key information for getting to and from the game,” he added. 

Lynne Embleton, the CEO of Aer Lingus, said that this year’s game will see the “single largest movement of US citizens internationally for a sporting event, which is a significant milestone and represents a huge opportunity to showcase Ireland as the great destination it is. 

Advice on travelling to Saturday’s game, and information relating to Games Week events is available on the official app.