← All events
seasonal · Thursday 3 September 2026 · Various 
Armagh Food and Cider Weekend 2026
At Various venues, Armagh City · Armagh City Centre and surrounding area, Armagh, Co. Armagh, BT61
At Various venues, Armagh City · Armagh City Centre and surrounding area, Armagh, Co. Armagh, BT61
Every September, County Armagh does what it does best - it feeds people well and pours them something worth talking about. The Armagh Food and Cider Weekend runs across four days from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 September 2026, spreading more than 40 events across the city and its surrounding orchards. It is one of the North’s best food festivals, and it draws the sort of crowd that actually eats out, reads the label on the bottle, and comes back the following year. Families, food-curious visitors, and serious cider drinkers all find something at a different pace.
The weekend builds around Armagh’s identity as the Orchard County and Northern Ireland’s designated Food Heartland. The Bramley apple - grown here since the 1800s - holds PGI status (Protected Geographical Indication) alongside Champagne and Parma ham, and that heritage runs through the whole event.
Thursday and Friday lean toward the ticketed end: intimate supper clubs, farm-to-fork dinners, orchard tours, cider tastings led by experts, apple-picking experiences, and pop-up dining at local cideries. Long Meadow Cider, one of the county’s best-known producers, typically hosts events in its glass-fronted Bramley Barn - a good one to book early. Shambles Yard in the city hosts Cider in the City, where makers set up their own stalls and you can sample local ciders, beers, and spirits alongside artisan street food from late afternoon.
Saturday is the free, open-to-all day. Market Street is taken over by the Artisan Street Market from midday - small-batch bakes, farm-fresh produce, handcrafted gifts, and gourmet food from across the Food Heartland. The Culinary Crawl on Saturday guides participants through Armagh’s historic streets, stopping at food and drink producers along the way. Workshops and masterclasses - including cider tasting with industry experts - run at the Marketplace Theatre. It is a full day without spending much.
Armagh city is roughly 40 minutes south-west of Belfast by car on the A3, and about 90 minutes from Dublin via the M1 and A3 through Newry. Translink runs regular bus services into Armagh from Belfast, Portadown, Newry, and Dungannon - useful for a day when you plan to taste things. Car parks are well signed in the city centre and it is a walkable city once you arrive, which matters when events are spread across venues.
Armagh is worth a half-day in its own right - the twin cathedrals on their hills, the Georgian Mall, the Palace Demesne, and the planetarium are all within easy walking distance of the festival venues. There is more to see in Armagh and across Co. Armagh.
Heading to Various venues, Armagh City in Armagh? Armagh has plenty more to see. Read the Armagh area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.