It all began back in 1759 when Arthur Guiness signed a 9,000 year lease on the St. James’ Gate brewery in Dublin. On Sept. 24 at 5:59 p.m. Dublin local time, a toast (with Guinness, naturally) will be raised to Arthur Guinness followed by celebrations throughout the capital of Ireland and the world.

Hop Store 13, one of the original, historic buildings on the St. James’ Gate site, will host concerts by Sir Tom Jones, Estelle and Kasabian.

You can also catch a number of headline acts at four of Dublin’s top venues – Vicar Street, Whelans, The Academy and TRIPOD. The lineup includes David Holmes, Soul II Soul, The Undertones, D’Banj, Mongrel, Reverend and the Makers, The Wombats, The Enemy, Hot Rats, Jamie Cullum, The Blizzards and The Kooks.

More than two dozen local Dublin pubs are also joining in on the celebration, featuring performances from artists such as Johnny Flynn, Mystery Jets, Noah and the Whale, Eoghan Colgan, Golden Silvers and Hoarsebox.

Celebrations are also going down globally in Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Indonesia, U.S. and Great Britain.

Additional artists include Black Eyed Peas, Calvin Harris, Razorlight, Richard Hawley, Black Swan Effect, Republic of Loose, Imelda May, David Gray, Sugababes, Golden Silvers, Jay Jay Pistolet, Mick Flannery, Dirty Epics, The Chakras, Cherbourg, Eoghan Colgan, Hoarsebox, Nat Jenkins, Noise Control and The Chapters.

To mark the 250th anniversary, the Arthur Guinness Fund is being established to honor Arthur Guinness and his family and to continue their legacy of philanthropy. Guinness & Co. is donating €6 million to get the Arthur Guinness Fund started.

“The aim of the Fund is to enable and empower individuals with skills and opportunities to deliver a measured benefit to their communities,” according to a statement.

Guinness has also created a limited edition Guinness® 250 Anniversary Stout, the first new Guinness stout introduced to the U.S. since Guinness Draught was imported in 1967.

Click here for Guinness’ Web site.