The biggest festivals in Germany: 10 events worth the trip
The biggest festivals in Germany, from Rock am Ring and Wacken to Oktoberfest and Bayreuth: city, month, genre and practical tips for visitors and artists.
10 festivalsRead →
The biggest festivals in Ireland: 10 events you must see
Ireland packs an extraordinary number of festivals into a small island, from a weekend of music on a country estate to a week of traditional sessions that takes over a whole town. This guide covers the best-known festivals in the Republic: where and when they happen, what sets each apart, and how visiting acts can get on stage.
Festivals sit close to the heart of Irish social life. Towns have long marked the calendar with fairs, fleadhanna and feast days, and the habit of gathering to sing, dance and talk into the night has never gone away. The festival map now runs from March, when St. Patrick's Day fills Dublin with parades, through a summer of music in fields and castle grounds, to jazz, opera and arts festivals in the autumn.
Irish festivals blend scale and intimacy: a big weekend runs many stages, yet the best moments are often a spoken-word tent or a late-night session in a bar. Traditional music remains a living practice and sits easily beside electronic, hip-hop and indie programming. For visiting artists the market is approachable: English is the working language, distances are short and there are far more stages than the headline events alone.
The festivals
Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic is the festival most Irish people mean when they simply say the Picnic. Held over a late-summer weekend in the grounds of Stradbally Hall, it mixes big-name pop, rock and electronic acts with comedy, theatre, spoken word, wellness and a famously eclectic set of themed areas. Tickets are keenly sought and the crowd spans teenagers, families and long-time regulars.
The setting is a landscaped country estate roughly an hour and a half from Dublin, with lakes, woodland and a walled garden that becomes a stage in its own right. Beyond the main arena, smaller stages and late-night spaces give the festival its playful, arty character, with room for up-and-coming Irish bands, DJs and cabaret acts.
Tip: Camping sells out early, so book as soon as tickets go on sale; emerging acts should approach the partner organisations curating the smaller stages.
St. Patrick's Festival
St. Patrick's Festival turns the national holiday into a multi-day celebration in the capital, with the Dublin parade on St Patrick's Day itself as its centrepiece. Pageant companies, marching bands, dance troupes and giant puppets wind through the city centre, while concerts, street performance and family events spread across parks and squares. It is the most internationally visible Irish festival, drawing visitors from around the world.
The action is concentrated in the historic centre, from Parnell Square down O'Connell Street and past the old city, with fringe events in venues across town. The programme favours large-scale outdoor spectacle: street theatre, brass and pipe bands, circus, traditional music and dance, and contemporary Irish pop and electronic acts at evening concerts.
Tip: Street performers, walkabout acts and marching bands are booked through pageant and performance calls that open months ahead, so apply early.
Galway International Arts Festival
Galway International Arts Festival is Ireland's flagship multi-arts event, filling the west-coast city every July with theatre, visual art, music, dance, comedy and street spectacle. Its reputation rests on ambitious commissions and premieres alongside a lively concert programme in the festival's Big Top, and the whole city takes part, with street theatre companies parading through the medieval centre.
Galway itself, compact and pedestrian-friendly, is the setting. Shop Street and Quay Street become an open-air stage, while the Big Top on the edge of town hosts touring bands and singer-songwriters. With a strong record of international collaboration, visiting theatre companies, circus troupes and world-music ensembles are as much part of the mix as Irish acts.
Tip: Accommodation in Galway is stretched during the festival, so book early; touring companies can contact the programming team via the festival's website.
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is the all-Ireland gathering of traditional music, song and dance, organised by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Each August it takes over a host town for a week, with competitions at its core and a much bigger informal festival of sessions in pubs, on street corners and in marquees. It is where the tradition renews itself, as young players and veterans trade tunes into the small hours.
Because the Fleadh moves, its setting changes with it: over the decades it has been hosted by towns and cities across the island, each transformed for the week. Performers are overwhelmingly traditional, from fiddlers, pipers, box players and sean-nós singers to céilí bands, joined by concert stages featuring established folk and trad acts.
Tip: The host town is announced well ahead, so check the Comhaltas website and book accommodation as soon as it is confirmed.
Guinness Cork Jazz Festival
The Cork Jazz Festival takes over Ireland's second city every October bank holiday weekend and has grown into a citywide event that reaches far beyond jazz purists. International headliners play the Cork Opera House and City Hall, while pubs, hotels and clubs host a huge programme of free gigs, making the atmosphere as much a street party as a concert series.
Cork's compact centre, with its pubs along Oliver Plunkett Street and the quays, makes it easy to wander from one gig to the next. The programme ranges from swing and big band to soul, funk, blues, Latin and contemporary jazz, with a strong showing of Irish jazz musicians, brass bands and late-night sessions.
Tip: Bands hoping to play the fringe should approach pubs and venues directly, as much of the free programme is booked venue by venue.
Longitude
Longitude is Dublin's big-city summer festival, held over a weekend in Marlay Park on the southern edge of the capital. It began as an indie and alternative event and has evolved into one of Ireland's key stages for hip-hop, R&B, grime and chart pop, which gives it a young, energetic crowd and a very different mood from the rural camping festivals.
Marlay Park is a large public park at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, easy to reach from the city by bus, and the festival is a non-camping, day-ticket affair. Stages range from the main arena to tents for DJs and rising rappers, with a food village and bars filling in the gaps.
Tip: It is a non-camping day festival, so visitors stay in Dublin; the urban, pop-focused programming suits DJs, rappers and producers.
All Together Now
All Together Now has earned a devoted following as the August bank holiday festival of the south-east. Set in the grounds of Curraghmore House near Portlaw, it pairs an adventurous music policy, with indie, electronic, folk and soul across several stages, with wellbeing, talks, comedy, food and family programming. The mood is relaxed and grown-up, closer to a boutique festival than a commercial weekender.
Curraghmore is a historic estate of woodland and parkland in County Waterford, and the site makes the most of it, with stages tucked among the trees and a lake as a backdrop. Irish acts are well represented alongside international names, and smaller stages give space to DJs, singer-songwriters, spoken word and circus.
Tip: The site is rural, so plan transport in advance; the festival organises shuttle buses and camping is the usual choice.
Wexford Festival Opera
Wexford Festival Opera is a small-town festival with a worldwide reputation, built on a simple idea: stage neglected and rarely performed operas to the highest standard. Every autumn the harbour town of Wexford fills with singers, musicians and opera lovers from far afield, and the National Opera House becomes the centre of a programme of full productions, recitals and lunchtime concerts.
Wexford sits on the south-east coast, a couple of hours from Dublin, and its narrow streets and pubs give the festival an intimate, convivial feel that big-city opera houses cannot match. Alongside the main productions there are fringe events, choral concerts and street entertainment, and the festival has long been a springboard for young singers.
Tip: Main-house tickets are booked months ahead, so plan early; young opera singers should watch for the festival's calls for emerging artists.
Kilkenny Arts Festival
Kilkenny Arts Festival is one of the oldest multi-arts festivals in Ireland and the most refined of the summer season. Each August the medieval city hosts chamber music, orchestral concerts, theatre, literature, visual art and traditional music, much of it in atmospheric venues such as St Canice's Cathedral, the castle and other historic buildings, with a strong following among classical audiences.
Kilkenny's tight cluster of medieval lanes, churches and the castle on the River Nore makes it an ideal walking festival. Classical and early-music ensembles sit alongside jazz, folk and contemporary acts, with a lively free strand of street performance and outdoor concerts on the Parade in front of the castle.
Tip: Classical ensembles and touring chamber groups are programmed well in advance, so approach the festival office early in the year.
Forbidden Fruit
Forbidden Fruit opens Dublin's summer, held over the June bank holiday weekend in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, home to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It has built a reputation for forward-looking electronic music, from techno and house to left-field pop and hip-hop, alongside indie bands, and its inner-city setting draws a crowd who can walk or cycle home afterwards.
The site is a formal seventeenth-century garden and parade ground within walking distance of the city centre, with stages set against the museum's stone facade. The booking policy is curated rather than chart-driven, so DJs, electronic acts and alternative bands find a receptive audience, and early-evening slots often go to the Irish underground.
Tip: A city festival without camping, it suits a short break; DJs and producers should target the smaller stages, which favour the local scene.
For artists and organisers
Festivals in Ireland book in several ways. The big weekenders work through agents and promoters months in advance, but their smaller stages are often curated by partner venues or arts organisations, which is where a new act gets a foot in the door. Arts festivals and city celebrations issue open calls for street theatre, circus and family entertainment, and jazz and trad festivals often book their fringe pub by pub. A EuroActs profile with photos, video and a clear description helps Irish bookers find DJs, bands and specialist acts.
Organisers of smaller festivals, town celebrations and summer events across Ireland can browse profiles by category and location and contact acts directly. There is no commission and no middle layer: the enquiry goes straight to the artist, the fee is agreed between the two, and everything from cover bands and DJs to fire shows and street performers is in one place.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the biggest festival in Ireland?
Electric Picnic in Stradbally, County Laois, is generally regarded as Ireland's biggest music festival and the one with the widest programme, running well beyond music into comedy, theatre and the arts. For sheer visibility, St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin reaches the largest audience, since the parade is broadcast live and followed far beyond Ireland.
When is festival season in Ireland?
The main music season runs from late May to early September, with the busiest weekends around the June and August bank holidays. Spring belongs to St. Patrick's Festival in March, while autumn brings the Cork Jazz Festival and Wexford Festival Opera, so there is something on almost year-round.
What is the Fleadh Cheoil?
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is the annual all-Ireland festival of traditional music, song and dance. Alongside competitions for musicians of all ages it hosts a week of sessions, concerts and céilís, and it moves between host towns, so the location must be checked for each edition.
Do Irish festivals have camping?
Rural weekenders such as Electric Picnic and All Together Now are camping festivals, with campervan and glamping options that sell out quickly. City festivals in Dublin, Cork and Galway are non-camping, so visitors stay in hotels or hostels and travel to the site each day.
How can an artist get booked to play a festival in Ireland?
Most festivals list contact details or open calls on their own websites, and smaller stages are often programmed by partner venues or collectives, so it pays to research who curates what. A professional online presence with video and clear booking details matters; a EuroActs profile lets Irish organisers find and contact an act directly.
Festivals in other countries
18 countries · 15 languages
The best-known festivals in France: 11 events worth the trip
From Avignon and the Vieilles Charrues to Hellfest and Jazz à Vienne: the 11 best-known festivals in France, with where, when, which genre and a tip for each.
11 festivalsRead →
The best-known festivals in Spain: 12 events worth the trip
From Primavera Sound and Sónar to Benicàssim, Mad Cool and the Bienal de Flamenco: the 12 best-known festivals in Spain, with where, when and a tip for each.
12 festivalsRead →
The biggest festivals in Italy: 9 events you must see
Discover the biggest festivals in Italy, from Sanremo and Arena di Verona to Umbria Jazz and Firenze Rocks: when they happen, where, and why they matter.
9 festivalsRead →
The best-known festivals in Portugal: 12 events worth the trip
From NOS Alive and Rock in Rio Lisboa to Boom, Paredes de Coura and São João: the 12 best-known festivals in Portugal, with where, when, which genre and a tip for each.
12 festivalsRead →
The best-known festivals in Poland: 11 events worth the trip
From Open'er and Pol'and'Rock to Unsound and Jazz Jamboree: the 11 best-known festivals in Poland, with where, when, which genre and a tip for each.
11 festivalsRead →