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festivals · Friday 25 September 2026 · Various 
Dublin Theatre Festival 2026
At Various Venues · Various theatres across Dublin
At Various Venues · Various theatres across Dublin
Every autumn, Dublin hands its stages over to some of the most ambitious theatre being made anywhere in the world. The Dublin Theatre Festival - founded in 1957, making it Europe’s oldest dedicated theatre festival - runs for just under three weeks each September and October, filling the Abbey, the Gate, the Gaiety, Project Arts Centre, Smock Alley, and a handful of site-specific venues with work that ranges from new Irish premieres to major international touring productions. If you go to one piece of theatre in Dublin this year, this is the time to do it.
The 2026 programme runs 24 September to 11 October across the city’s principal venues. Each year the festival curates a mix of established Irish companies and international guests - this edition includes a two-play event at the Abbey Theatre featuring Marina Carr’s The Boy, and Druid Theatre Company’s staging of Macbeth at the Gaiety. Beyond the headline productions, the programme typically covers dance, opera, walking tours, talks, and work made for younger audiences.
The festival has always carried a reputation for genuine ambition. Since its contentious early years in the 1950s - when the Archbishop of Dublin refused to bless the 1958 edition because it featured Joyce and O’Casey - it has consistently brought work to Dublin that you would otherwise travel to London, Edinburgh, or Berlin to see. Full programme details are announced in August; the official site at dublintheatrefestival.ie is the place to check. Popular shows sell out quickly, so booking ahead is worth doing once the programme drops.
For those under 30, unwaged, or freelance arts workers, the 10FOR10 initiative offers tickets at €10 per show - a genuinely useful scheme for a festival where otherwise prices start from €15.
Dublin city centre is well served by public transport. The Dart runs along the coast into Pearse and Connolly stations; Dublin Bus routes cover the whole city; and Luas trams on both the Red and Green lines stop close to the main festival venues. From outside Dublin, Bus Éireann and Expressway coaches connect most Irish towns directly. If you are driving, park-and-ride facilities around the Luas stops take a lot of the pressure off city centre parking, which can be expensive on event nights.
The festival gives you a good reason to spend more than one evening in the city. Dublin’s older theatre buildings are interesting in their own right - Smock Alley, for instance, has been a theatre since 1662 - and the streets around them are full of good places to eat before a show. There is more to see in Dublin and across Co. Dublin.
Heading to Various Venues in Dublin? Dublin has plenty more to see. Read the Dublin area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.