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music · Friday 7 August 2026 · 6:00pm 
The Saw Doctors - Feile an Phobail at Falls Park
At Falls Park · Falls Park, Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim
At Falls Park · Falls Park, Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim
The Saw Doctors at Falls Park on Friday 7 August 2026 is the kind of night that makes Irish summer plans. The Galway band are one of the best live acts the country has produced - their songs travel, their crowds sing every word, and an outdoor setting suits them well. This is the opening major concert of Féile an Phobail 2026, the west Belfast community festival that has been running since 1988 and draws tens of thousands of people each year. Support comes from Hothouse Flowers, the Dublin soul-folk veterans with a devoted following of their own, and More Power to Your Elbow. If you have never been to a Féile concert at Falls Park, it is worth knowing the atmosphere is different from a standard arena show - the crowd is mixed in age, families come, and the community feel is genuine.
Gates open at 6pm, giving you time to settle in before the support acts. The Saw Doctors catalogue does a lot of the work - “N17”, “I Useda Lover”, “To Win Just Once” - but the current eight-piece lineup (founding member Pearse Doherty on bass, with Anthony Thistlethwaite from The Waterboys on saxophone) gives the songs real depth live. Hothouse Flowers will warm the crowd well; their gospel-tinged sound sits comfortably alongside the Galway folk-rock that follows. The concert takes place under the Féile Marquee in Falls Park, which has held crowds of over 10,000 in previous years. Féile an Phobail itself runs from 25 July to 9 August 2026, with over 700 events across Belfast - there is plenty of context around this gig if you want to build a longer visit.
Falls Park sits on the Falls Road in west Belfast, about 2 kilometres from the city centre. From Belfast city centre, Metro bus routes run along the Falls Road - the 10, 10A, and related services stop near the park entrance. The journey takes around 10 minutes. If you are driving in from outside Belfast, the city is served by the M1 (from Dublin and the south via Newry) and the M2 (from Antrim and the north). City centre parking is available at several car parks off Great Victoria Street and Howard Street; from there the Falls Road is an easy bus hop or a 25-minute walk. Taxis and ride-share apps are plentiful in Belfast.
Belfast has changed significantly in recent decades and has real character to explore - the Cathedral Quarter, the Titanic Quarter, the Victorian covered market at St George’s, and the Black Mountain looming over the west of the city. There is more to see in Belfast and across Co. Antrim.
Heading to Falls Park 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.