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heritage · Saturday 5 September 2026 · Various 
Feile Cheoil Larry Reynolds
At Multiple Venues · Ballinasloe, Co. Galway
At Multiple Venues · Ballinasloe, Co. Galway
Every September, Ballinasloe gives over a long weekend to the music that shaped this part of Galway. Féile Cheoil Larry Reynolds is a four-day traditional Irish music festival rooted in the distinctive East Galway style - smooth, lyrical fiddle playing that Larry Reynolds carried with him from Shanboley, Ahascragh, when he emigrated to Boston in the 1950s. The festival was founded to honour his legacy and has grown into one of the most respected trad weekends in the country. It suits anyone with a genuine interest in Irish music - players and listeners alike - and is run with a strong family and community feel.
The programme spans concerts, workshops, open sessions, céilí dancing, and heritage talks. In past years more than 60 live sessions have taken place in pubs, community halls, and on the streets of Ballinasloe over the course of the weekend. The 2026 edition is the 13th festival, and workshops are confirmed across a range of instruments and traditions - fiddle, button accordion, banjo, bodhrán, concertina, concertina, and sean nós and set dancing. There is also a U18 All-Ireland Fiddle Competition, which draws young players from across the country.
The festival’s focus is deliberately regional: it celebrates the East Galway sound specifically, spotlighting composers and players from this part of the country rather than being a general trad festival. Saturday’s programme traditionally includes a public talk - in recent years delivered at Ballinasloe Library - on the history and character of the East Galway style. Workshops require separate booking through Eventbrite; sessions and street events are open to all.
Ballinasloe sits on the N6, roughly 50km south-east of Galway city and about 90km west of Dublin. By car from Galway it is a straightforward 40-minute drive east. Bus Éireann routes on the Galway - Dublin corridor stop in Ballinasloe, and the town has its own railway station on the Dublin Heuston - Galway line, making it one of the easier festival towns in Connacht to reach without a car. Town centre parking is available, and with venues spread across Ballinasloe, most of the weekend is walkable once you are there.
Ballinasloe is best known for its October horse fair, one of the oldest in Europe, but the town also sits close to the banks of the River Suck and is well placed for exploring the flat, quiet landscape of East Galway. There is more to see in Ballinasloe and across Co. Galway.
Heading to Multiple Venues in Ballinasloe? Galway has plenty more to see. Read the Ballinasloe area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.