14 summer music festivals: You know about Electric Picnic, but what about the others?
Electric Picnic in August will close out the summer festival roster. Picture: Niall Carson/PA
The line-up for the second edition of the Cork-based LIAS is still under wraps, but head to Sligo’s Juniper Barn and you’re guaranteed a delightful time in mid-May. LIAS is curated by the gang behind the boutique Another Love Story (see below). Leading the charge deep into the night will be German producer and DJ Danilo Plessow aka MCDE, bridging the gap between disco historian and full-blooded house weapon. An Taobh Tuathail stalwart Cian Ó Cíobháin guarantees a boogie, while there’s also a rare appearance from the gentle genius of duo Séan Mac Erlaine & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.
Open Ear takes place on Sherkin Island over the June bank holiday weekend, celebrating 10 years of the electronic, experimental, and avant-garde festival. Open Ear has grown, evolved and morphed over the past decade, but still celebrates all that is wonderful and weird about the experimental and electronic communities of Ireland, with only one performance taking place at any one time. Underground pop experimentalist Chris Imler makes his Irish debut, Gilla Band guitarist Alan Duggan Borges brings his techno collaborative project the Null Club to the island, while there’s also industrial psychedelia, crushing dub, and specially commissioned experimental opera.
Its fifth edition — and its first-ever three-day programme — When Next We Meet promises three days of carefully curated music, connection, and celebration. The Waterboys are the big draw. Mike Scott et al are still basking in the acclaim of 2025 album , and always deliver a live show that lives long in the memory. Mick Flannery reunites with Susan O’Neill for a special performance. The Wran, a rising trad-fusion band from the Comeragh Mountains in Waterford, and Moxie, a boundary-pushing Irish folk band known for reimagining tradition through a modern lens, are also on the festival bill, with plenty more to be announced.
Taking place a month earlier than usual, Night & Day is getting in there early for its fifth edition. The biggest music festival in the west, it takes place in the beautiful surroundings of Lough Key Forest Park, with unique activities including zip-lining, boat tours, and tree-top walks. The Sol stage, located inside the 150ft-high Moylurg Tower, features electronic music and DJs including host Jenny Greene, Dáithí (live), Nialler9, and Vanishing Arcs — the sideproject of Villagers’ Conor O’Brien. Bob Geldof remains a compelling live performer, and Boomtown Rats’ Sunday outing should be a reminder, while hometown heroes the Saw Doctors will be eyeing the singalong of the summer.
Billed as Dublin’s first summer festival and its longest-running city-centre festival, Forbidden Fruit celebrates its 14th edition over the June bank holiday weekend. It focuses on electronic, hip hop, and alternative artists across five stages, with an impressive mix of global and Irish talent. As well as the headliners, there are plenty of names ready for the step up, including Interplanetary Criminal, ¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$U, Shee, Horsegiiirl, Zulan and MOIO. Irish acts include Aby Coulibaly, April, Curtisy, F3Miii, Jessica Doolan, mischa and the bear, Roe Byrne, and RuntheRed.
Galway Folk Festival returns for its fifth edition and what it calls its most ambitious programme to date. Taking place across nine venues, including Leisureland and St Nicholas’ Church, audiences can expect a rich mix of large-scale headline shows, atmospheric seated concerts, late-night sessions, and city-wide happenings. Returning old friends include Hothouse Flowers, Niall McCabe, CLADA, and Seán Keane, while there’s an acclaimed mix of new and established acts making their bow: Muireann Bradley, Flyte, RÓIS, Bill Ryder-Jones, and Brìghde Chaimbeul to name a few.
Drama and fear swirled in the week leading up to Beyond the Pale last summer, amid rumours it wouldn’t go ahead. Thankfully, a solution was found and it went ahead as planned — and it survived the rain and a very muddy Saturday too. It feels like a mini Electric Picnic — about an eighth of the size — and brings art, food, and wellbeing side offerings. Caribou are a festival staple and always deliver feelgood moments. Elsewhere, Choice Prize-nominated, Geese-endorsed Galway artist Dove Ellis touches down for his only Irish show of the summer, while DJ/producer Honey Dijon should offer a high-octane summer set.
Billing itself as Ireland’s favourite family festival, there will be singalongs galore for parents all weekend — Bedingfield’s is guaranteed a mass outpouring of noughties emotion. Dustin the Turkey also makes what we can only assume is his only festival appearance of the summer. For the smallies, there are hundreds of activities, both music and hands-on: science experiments, circus feats, dance-offs, magic shows, and sports day follies are all on the schedule.
Some of Cork City’s top DJ talent and electronic artists venture west for this three-day event in one of the most beautiful spots in the county. A ‘strictly over 21’ crowd have a number of camping options at the site, with music provided by the likes of Leeside dance-scene stalwarts Shane Johnson (Fish Go Deep), Colm Motherway, and Colm K, as well as several live acts. There’s also UK representation from Queen Bee, part of the Bristol HIFI crew run by Daddy G of Massive Attack.
Promising a weekend of pure joy, where lines between stage and audience are blurred, Orlagh House, nestled among hills and mountains in south Dublin, is transformed into a magical musical playground for buzzers and dreamers alike. Promoters Turning Pirate are behind the venture, and the Turning Pirate House Band, featuring a case of acclaimed artists, will perform Paul Simon’s in full. Elsewhere, Lisa Hannigan, Paul Noonan and Gemma Hayes reprise their trio show, while the beloved Wallis Bird will be fresh off her latest album The legendary Stockton’s Wing are another star offering.
A weekend where community, creativity, and celebration collide under the forest skyline, Forest Fest offers a curated escape. Line-up-wise, it’s a blast from the past, stretching all the way back to the 1970s with the Undertones and Paul Brady. Echo & the Bunnymen and Madness offer contrasting visions of the 80s, the Charlatans and James will make you Sit Down like it’s peak Britpop, while Feeder brings the noughties throwback. A tribute line-up features acts playing the music of Abba, the Specials, the Beatles, Neil Young, and more.
The seventh chapter of All Together Now — Munster’s biggest music festival. Pulp play their first full festival show in Ireland in 15 years, Underworld return for the third time at ATN, while Kneecap make the climb to full headliner status. Like last year, when Fontaines DC and CMAT made star turns, All Together Now should draw a crowd diverse in age. A sprawling site offers something for just about everyone. Christy Moore and the Mary Wallopers sit proudly next to each other on the poster, while acts you’ll want to impress your mates with include Anna von Hausswolff, Moonchild Sanelly, and Joy Orbison.
Delivering “a compact collection of carefully chosen sound and taste makers to soundtrack your time with us at The Manor”, the boutique Another Love Story returns for its 12th edition in mid-August — and what sounds like its most club-focused yet. A relatively small audience of fewer than 2,000 will have their dancing shoes on for UK drum and bass legend LTJ Bukem — as the festival organisers say, it’s going to be epic. NTS DJ Bradley Zero promises feel-good dancefloor energy, while revered dub pioneer Mad Professor presents a special hybrid live/DJ performance.
More than 80,000 tickets get snapped up as soon as they go on sale hot on the heels of the previous year’s Electric Picnic. 2026 is the best EP lineup in years. CMAT and Fontaines DC lead the Irish charge, while Sombr, Wunderhorse, and Role Model offer a look at the next generation. Zara Larsson and Skepta offer the best in pop and rap, respectively, while the most exciting band in the world right now, Geese, bring to EP for their first Irish show since playing the tiny Academy 2 in 2023.
