← All events
music · Saturday 22 August 2026 · 8:00pm 
Ethno Ireland in Concert
At Mermaid Arts Centre · Main Street, Bray, Co. Wicklow, A98 N5P1
At Mermaid Arts Centre · Main Street, Bray, Co. Wicklow, A98 N5P1
Ethno Ireland brings its youth folk orchestra to the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray on Saturday 22 August 2026, the second time this international music exchange programme has run in Ireland. Young musicians aged 16 to 30 from across the world spend a week together in Roundwood, in the Wicklow Mountains, teaching each other traditional music from their own countries and cultures before performing what the programme calls a one-off ephemeral youth folk orchestra. The concert in Bray is the public performance that closes out that week of workshops.
The concert runs for around 75 minutes with no interval, starting at 8pm, and brings together traditional tunes from a range of countries as learned and arranged by the participants themselves during their week in Roundwood. Ethno is run internationally by Jeunesse Musicales International and operates in more than 40 countries, built on the idea of peer-to-peer teaching rather than formal tuition, so the resulting orchestra mixes instruments and styles that would not normally share a stage. Because the line up and repertoire are built fresh each year from whoever attends that week’s workshop, no two Ethno Ireland concerts sound quite the same, and this one draws directly on the group’s time spent in the Wicklow Mountains rather than a fixed touring show.
Mermaid Arts Centre is on Main Street in Bray, a short walk from Bray Dart and rail station on the Dublin to Greystones line. Dublin Bus and Dart services run from Dublin city centre. Public car parks are available in Bray town centre near the venue.
Bray’s seafront and harbour sit a short stroll from Mermaid Arts Centre, an easy dinner-and-a-show stop given the concert’s 8pm start. There is more to see in Bray and across Co. Wicklow.
Heading to Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray? Wicklow has plenty more to see. Read the Bray area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
In town for Mermaid Arts Centre? These Wicklow tours book out in summer.