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arts · Friday 3 July 2026 · Various 
Exchanges: Exploring Cultural Exchanges & Blended Cultures
At Multiple venues across Clonmel · Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
At Multiple venues across Clonmel · Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
Clonmel Junction Arts Festival has been running since 2001, and the 2026 edition takes “Exchanges” as its central theme - a programme of theatre, music, workshops, and conversations built around cultural identity, blended communities, and what it means to belong somewhere new. The core dates, 3 to 12 July, sit within a wider festival window that runs from 10 June to 18 July, so there is a good deal of activity in and around the town even before the main programme peaks. If you are interested in the kind of arts festival that mixes international work with local voices and puts questions about culture and community at the front rather than the back, this is worth the trip.
The programme spreads across multiple venues in Clonmel and draws together strands that don’t always share a stage. Theatre includes The Horse of Jenin by Palestinian writer Alaa Shehada, and the physical theatre piece Barbarian, a dance-theatre hybrid. Music ranges from David Geraghty (founding member of Bell X1) to Muireann Bradley, the blues and ragtime guitarist who has been turning heads well beyond Ireland. Alongside the ticketed events, there are plein air painting sessions (4 and 5 July), mask-making and comic strip workshops, a festival choir, yoga and wellness events, and guided art walks.
The Vincent Hanley Summer School takes the theme head-on with a day focused on “Being Other in Rural Ireland” - a frank conversation about how communities change and how newcomers are received. A Tipperary Food and Farming Day and a Music in the Pubs trail add more informal layers. The box office is in Unit 12a, Showgrounds Shopping Centre, open 11am to 4pm Monday to Saturday, and tickets are also available online at junctionfestival.com. Prices generally run from around €10 to €20 per event, with concessions available.
Clonmel is the largest town in Tipperary and sits in the Suir Valley, roughly 48 km from Waterford and 55 km from Limerick. By road, it is straightforward on the N24 from either direction. Bus Eireann services connect Clonmel to Waterford, Limerick, and Tipperary town, with Expressway coaches running through on longer routes. The town is compact and the main festival venues - including STAC, The Platform, Raheen House Hotel, and Denis Burke Park - are all reachable on foot from the town centre. Street parking is available, and there are pay car parks close to the shopping centre and riverside.
Clonmel has a strong food scene, a good stretch of the River Suir for a walk, and the Comeragh Mountains close enough for a morning drive before the evening programme. There is more to see in Clonmel and across Co. Tipperary.
Heading to Multiple venues across Clonmel in Clonmel? Tipperary has plenty more to see. Read the Clonmel area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.