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music · Saturday 29 August 2026 · 4:00pm 
ERA Dance Classics August Weekend - Shambles Yard, Armagh
At Shambles Market, Armagh · Cathedral Road, Armagh, Co. Armagh
At Shambles Market, Armagh · Cathedral Road, Armagh, Co. Armagh
ERA Events Group turns the Shambles Yard in Armagh city centre into an open-air dancefloor for a two-day weekend of 90s and 00s dance classics on 29 and 30 August 2026. ERA presents 30 Years of Dance Classics - a festival deliberately pitched at the over-30s crowd who actually lived through the original club era, not a nostalgia act for people too young to remember it. If you danced to house anthems, cheesy 90s classics and drum-and-bass in the late nights of the 90s and early 00s, this is built for you.
The format is a proper outdoor festival production - full stage FX, professional sound and lighting, food and merchandise vendors, and a fully licensed bar. ERA’s first outing at the Shambles in 2025 featured headline acts including Chris Agnelli of Agnelli and Nelson, Italian house group Living Joy, Belfast DJ and producer Yomanda, former Lush! resident DJs Midknight Thieves, and Northern Ireland dance radio personality Neal McClelland. The 2026 August weekend follows the same template - two afternoons kicking off from 4:00pm, with the music covering the full sweep of dance culture from the late 80s through the 00s alongside country music performances. Tickets start from £15, with early releases typically selling fast.
The Shambles Yard itself is an interesting space - a historic market yard sitting between Armagh’s two cathedrals, with market rights going back to the 15th century. It has been a corn market, a cattle market, and since 1990 a weekly variety market. Seeing it turned into a festival site is part of the appeal.
Armagh city sits roughly 40 minutes south-west of Belfast by road via the A3. From Dublin it is about 90 minutes north on the M1, crossing into Northern Ireland at Newry. The Shambles Market is on Cathedral Road, which runs through the centre of the city and is straightforward to find. Translink Ulsterbus services connect Armagh to Belfast and other towns in the region; the Goldline 251 Belfast to Monaghan route serves Armagh. Parking is available in the city centre car parks nearby, though for an evening event arriving early or using public transport is sensible.
The city has two cathedrals on opposing hills - one Church of Ireland, one Catholic - both named St Patrick’s, which tells you something about the depth of its history. The Armagh Public Library holds one of the oldest book collections in Ireland, and the county is apple country, with the Bramley orchards of the north Armagh drumlin belt still producing commercially. There is more to see in Armagh and across Co. Armagh.
Heading to Shambles Market, Armagh 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.