Harvest at Ulster Folk Museum

Ulster Folk Museum marks the turn of the season with its Harvest day on Saturday 26 September 2026, running from 10am to 5pm across the open-air museum’s cottages and farmland at Cultra. The event is built around the rhythms of the old rural calendar, with hands-on potato picking and apple harvesting, working farm demonstrations, and baking done the traditional way in the museum’s period cottages. It is aimed squarely at families and suits a range of ages.

What to expect

Visitors can join in picking potatoes and apples in the museum’s fields and orchards, alongside demonstrations from the working farm. In the traditional cottages, costumed staff bake bread and other harvest fare over open fires, and the smell of that baking is as much a part of the day as the activities themselves. Children can make their own harvest knot, a traditional woven decoration tied to the end of the harvest, and craft stalls run through the day. Traditional music sessions take place across the site, adding to the atmosphere without being the main draw. The museum’s wider collection of relocated buildings, the farmhouses, shops, school and church moved here from across Ulster, stays open as usual, so a Harvest day visit doubles as a normal visit to the open-air museum. A 20 percent Green Ticket discount applies for visitors who arrive by public transport and can show proof of their journey.

Getting there

Ulster Folk Museum is at Cultra, just off the main Belfast to Bangor road (A2), about 15 minutes from Belfast city centre and a short walk from Cultra railway halt on the Belfast to Bangor line. There is a large on-site car park, and public transport is actively encouraged through the Green Ticket discount.

While you’re in Holywood

Holywood’s High Street, with its independent shops and cafes, and the town’s sandy foreshore are a short drive from Cultra, making an easy add-on before or after a Harvest day visit. There is more to see in Holywood and across Co. Down.

Good to know

• Date and time: Saturday 26 September 2026, 10am to 5pm
• Venue: Ulster Folk Museum, 153 Bangor Road, Cultra
• Price: standard museum admission; free for National Museums NI members; 20 percent Green Ticket discount for public transport users
• Activities: potato and apple picking, harvest knot making, traditional baking demonstrations, working farm, traditional music
• Booking: tickets available online in advance or on arrival