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music · Saturday 8 August 2026 · 7:30pm 
Altan and Frankie Gavin and De Dannan - Titans of Trad
At Mandela Hall · Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, Co. Antrim
At Mandela Hall · Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, Co. Antrim
Two of the most significant bands in the history of Irish traditional music share a stage at Mandela Hall, Belfast, on Saturday 8 August 2026. Altan, rooted in the Irish-speaking landscape of Co. Donegal, and Frankie Gavin and De Dannan, the Galway outfit who helped define what trad could sound like from the mid-1970s onward, performing together on one night is the kind of thing that does not come around often. This concert forms part of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Belfast 2026, the all-Ireland festival of traditional music and culture running 2 to 9 August, which is bringing tens of thousands of players and listeners into the city. If you follow traditional music seriously, or you are looking for a single unmissable night during Fleadh week, this is it.
Altan formed in 1987, taking their name from a lake behind Errigal Mountain in Donegal. Led by the singing and fiddle playing of Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, they built their sound on Donegal song traditions - Irish-language material with a depth and a regional character that sets them apart. They have sold over a million records and are as well regarded in North America and Europe as at home.
Frankie Gavin and De Dannan have a longer story. De Dannan emerged from sessions in Hughes’s Pub in Spiddal, Co. Galway in 1975, with Frankie Gavin on fiddle from the start. That original group went on to pass through a remarkable series of singers - Dolores Keane among them - and shaped what came to be understood as the Connacht sound in trad. Frankie Gavin is widely regarded as one of the finest traditional fiddle players alive.
Billed as “Titans of Trad,” the concert puts both bands in Mandela Hall, a purpose-built 1,000-capacity live music venue rebuilt in 2022 with serious attention paid to acoustics and sound. Doors open at 6:30pm, with the show starting at 7:30pm. Book in advance - a concert like this during Fleadh week will sell out.
Mandela Hall sits on Elmwood Avenue in Belfast’s Queen’s Quarter, a short walk from the main Queen’s University buildings. From Belfast city centre, the venue is around 20 minutes on foot or a few minutes by Metro bus - routes serving Stranmillis and the Lisburn Road pass nearby. If you are travelling by train, Great Victoria Street and Lanyon Place (Central) stations are both within comfortable distance by taxi or bus. Parking in the area is limited on event nights; arriving by public transport or on foot from the city centre is the more straightforward option.
Fleadh week will fill the city with free street sessions, competitions, and ceili dances - much of it outdoors and open to anyone who wanders past. Beyond the Fleadh itself, the Queen’s Quarter has the Botanic Gardens, the Ulster Museum, and some of the best independent food and drink in Belfast within easy reach. There is more to see in Belfast and across Co. Antrim.
Heading to Mandela Hall in Belfast? Antrim has plenty more to see. Read the Belfast area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.