James Joyce: Why do people celebrate Bloomsday?

On one day every June, the streets of Dublin are transformed to a bygone era.

People are dressed in straw hats tied with ribbon and Edwardian outfits.

It’s 16 June, Bloomsday, or the day on which James Joyce set his great literary work, Ulysses.

Joyce fans admit it is a “big book”, spanning 700 pages in length with more than 265,000 words.

Those who makes it through from start to finish will be treated to a snapshot of Joyce’s Dublin, with the story taking place in different locations around the city, all based on real places.

There’s Sweny’s Pharmacy on Lincoln Place, now a book shop, and on Duke Street stands Davy Byrne’s pub, still in business more than 100 years later.

For Joyce fans, Bloomsday is an opportunity to step into the novel.

Each year they dress up, some as characters from the book, others in outfits inspired by the era, and they move around each location recreating and reciting scenes from the book.

Most Bloomsday enthusiasts can be spotted from afar, as they wear straw hats donned with ribbon.