← All events
theatre · Friday 3 July 2026 · 8:00pm 
Exchanges: A Performance by Dagogo Hart and Andy Spearpoint
At Clonmel Junction Arts Festival venues · Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
At Clonmel Junction Arts Festival venues · Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
On the opening night of Clonmel Junction Arts Festival 2026, two distinctive Irish voices share a stage for a performance rooted in cultural exchange and sound. Dagogo Hart is a Nigerian-Irish poet, playwright, and spoken word artist whose work weaves identity, grief, and community into language that is built to be heard aloud. Andy Spearpoint - former front man of cult indie band New Fast Automatic Daffodils and now a composer and electronic performer based in rural Tipperary - brings a very different sensibility: semi-improvised electronics, samplers, and experimental sound. The pairing is the point. Exchanges is the name of both this performance and the festival’s overarching 2026 theme, exploring cultural conversations and blended cultures, and this show sets the tone for the ten days ahead. Anyone drawn to work that sits between music and spoken word, or curious what happens when a Nigerian-Irish voice meets an electronic composer who builds DIY Gamelan orchestras, will find this an arresting way to start a July evening.
The performance takes its name from the festival theme and is billed as exploring cultural exchange through sound. Hart’s stage presence is well-established across Irish festivals - he has appeared at Dublin Fringe, Body and Soul, Drogheda Arts, and First Fortnight, and his performances combine spoken word poetry with theatrical instinct. Spearpoint, meanwhile, has spent recent years developing an approach that moves away from conventional songwriting toward improvised electronic and percussive performance. Exactly how the two strands meet is the discovery the audience gets to make. Expect language and sound working together rather than one serving the other. The show is categorised as theatre as much as music, so come ready to listen closely. Running time and specific venue within the festival sites were not confirmed at time of writing - check the festival programme at junctionfestival.com before you go.
Clonmel is the largest town in Tipperary, sitting in the Suir valley about 1 hour 20 minutes by car from Cork, 1 hour 30 from Dublin, and around 40 minutes from Waterford. The M8 motorway brings you in from Dublin or Cork direction; from Waterford take the N24. Bus Eireann operates services to Clonmel from major cities, and the town has a train station on the Limerick Junction to Waterford line. During Junction Arts Festival, the town centre is busy and on-street parking fills up in the evening - the Irishtown car park and the quays along the River Suir offer reasonable options within walking distance of the main festival venues.
The festival itself runs until 12 July, so a visit on opening night can anchor a longer stay in a town that has a genuinely strong food scene, good pubs, and easy access to the Comeragh Mountains and the Suir valley. There is more to see in Clonmel and across Co. Tipperary.
Heading to Clonmel Junction Arts Festival venues 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.