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music · Wednesday 5 August 2026 · Various 
39th International Feakle Festival of Traditional Irish Music
At Various venues, Feakle · Feakle, Co. Clare
At Various venues, Feakle · Feakle, Co. Clare
The 39th International Feakle Festival of Traditional Irish Music runs from Wednesday 5 to Monday 10 August 2026, filling the small east Clare village of Feakle with six days of concerts, workshops, céilís, sessions and storytelling. This is one of Ireland’s most respected traditional music gatherings - rooted in the east Clare style that gave the world the Tulla Céilí Band and musicians like Martin Hayes. If you play, you are welcome at the sessions. If you listen, you are in for some of the finest traditional music you will hear anywhere.
The opening night on Wednesday 5 August sets the tone with a free concert at Feakle Community Hall under the theme “Looking back while moving forward: the past, present and future of the east Clare music tradition.” From there the programme builds through Thursday’s night concert at Pepper’s Marquee (€25), lunchtime concerts on Friday and Saturday featuring tutors including Martin Hayes, Eileen O’Brien, Mary McNamara, Jack Talty, Maeve Donnelly and Steve Cooney (€15 each), and full evening concerts at St. Mary’s Church on Friday and Saturday (€30 each).
The céilís are a proper highlight. The Star of Munster takes the Community Hall on Thursday night and the Sunday Grand Finale brings in the Tulla Céilí Band at the Marquee - both at €10 on the door. Workshops run Thursday, Friday and Saturday across the National School, Bohan’s Pub, Moloney’s Pub and the Community Hall, covering a wide range of traditional instruments at €25 per day or €60 for the three-day pass.
Throughout the weekend, Moloney’s Pub hosts free singing sessions, a pop-up Gaeltacht (Irish language conversation), and a Sunday Conversations in Music event. There is a free outdoor concert on the Fair Green on Sunday afternoon, weather permitting. The festival closes on Monday with the Riches of Clare lunchtime concert at the Community Hall - also free.
Feakle sits roughly 30 km north-east of Ennis on the R352, in the gentle hills of east Clare. There is no regular bus service to the village, so a car or taxi from Ennis is the practical option. Parking is available in and around the village, though it fills quickly on weekend evenings - arriving a little early on concert nights is sensible.
The village is a good base for a longer stay in east Clare, with Lough Graney nearby and the Slieve Bernagh hills to the south. There is more to see in Feakle and across Co. Clare.
Heading to Various venues, Feakle in Feakle? Clare has plenty more to see. Read the Feakle area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.