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festivals · Saturday 15 August 2026 · 7:00pm 
Ballinagh Folly Fest 2026
At Market House Square · Main Street, Ballinagh, Co. Cavan
At Market House Square · Main Street, Ballinagh, Co. Cavan
Folly Fest returns to Ballinagh on Saturday 15 August 2026 after a pause since 2023, this time as a scaled-back, one-day mini music festival on Main Street rather than the multi-day event the town has run in previous years. A stage goes up in front of the Market House, with plenty of room on the street for people to gather, sing along and dance.
The 2026 line-up is built around local talent: Tonnóg, featuring Aaron and Fergus from Ballinagh on guitar and banjo, plays alongside Instru-mental (Ultan O’Reilly and Adam Larkin), while Séamus Mc Phillips leads a traditional music session on the night. Organiser Mags McGrath of the Ballinagh Community Enterprise Association told the Anglo Celt that “it’s all live music and it will be a bit of craic and dancing,” adding of the scaled-back return, “we’ll see how it goes and hopefully we can bring back a bigger one in the future.” Expect an informal, family-friendly street atmosphere rather than a ticketed, fenced-off festival site.
The festival takes its name from Fleming’s Folly, the 18th-century tower on the hill overlooking Ballinagh, but the music itself happens down on Main Street rather than up at the landmark, so there is no climb involved to take part. Earlier editions before the 2023 pause ran across more than a single evening, with a wider community programme around the music. The 2026 return is a shorter version while the committee builds the festival back up, so treat it as one evening of live music on the street rather than a full weekend of events.
Ballinagh is on the R198 between Cavan Town and Ballyjamesduff, about 12km south-west of Cavan Town. The Market House sits on Main Street in the centre of the village, with on-street parking nearby.
Heading to Market House Square in Ballinagh? Cavan has plenty more to see. Read the Ballinagh area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.