Ballinasloe October Fair 2026

What to Expect

Ballinasloe October Fair runs from Sunday, October 4 to Sunday, October 11, 2026, and traces its roots back to 1722, making it one of Europe’s oldest and largest horse fairs and, at 303 years old in 2026, the oldest fair of its kind in Ireland. The heart of the event is horse trading and showing at the historic Fair Green in the centre of Ballinasloe, the second-largest town in County Galway, where buyers and sellers still bring horses and ponies, from Connemara ponies to draught and trotting horses, for sale by eye and handshake much as they have for centuries. Historically the fair also traded cattle and sheep, and while horses are now the main draw, the week-long event has grown well beyond livestock into a full town festival, with a funfair, market stalls, street entertainment and music drawing an estimated 30,000-plus visitors over the week. It remains one of the best surviving examples of a traditional Irish horse fair still operating in its original form, and horses are still bought and sold there on nothing more than a verbal agreement and a handshake, the same way they were generations ago.

Good to Know

• Dates: Sunday, October 4 to Sunday, October 11, 2026, centred on the Fair Green, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.
• Horse trading and showing is free to view as a member of the public; funfair rides and some festival events may carry separate charges.
• Ballinasloe is the second-largest town in County Galway, roughly 45 minutes’ drive east of Galway city on the M6.
• The fair mixes genuine horse trading, still conducted informally on the Fair Green, with a modern funfair, market stalls and evening entertainment across the week.
• Exact day-by-day programming for 2026 is published closer to the date on the official fair website.

Getting There

The Fair Green is in the centre of Ballinasloe, within walking distance of the town’s main street, shops and pubs. Ballinasloe has a train station on the Dublin to Galway line, and the town is just off the M6 motorway for drivers.