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festivals · Friday 4 September 2026 · Various 
Lovely Laois Homecoming Festival 2026
At Midlands Park Hotel · Jessop Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, R32 KV20
At Midlands Park Hotel · Jessop Street, Portlaoise, Co. Laois, R32 KV20
Portlaoise hosts the Lovely Laois Homecoming Festival from Friday, 4 September to Sunday, 6 September 2026, a weekend built to draw Laois people home from abroad and bring the local community together around a shared programme of music, talks and a gala dinner. Events run mainly from the Midlands Park Hotel on Jessop Street, with additional events at Preston House, spreading the weekend across several venues in and around the town.
The weekend programme mixes ticketed evening entertainment with free daytime events. A country music concert and a tribute performance built around Luke Kelly’s music anchor the evening entertainment, alongside a gala dinner that celebrates Laois food and culture and gives returning emigrants a chance to reconnect with old friends. Daytime events lean toward workshops and community activities: a sensory play workshop for children, a writing workshop with author Helen Moorehouse, and a literary event day with Frances Harney at Preston House all feature across the weekend. The overall tone is more homecoming reunion than typical arts festival, aimed at Laois natives living away as much as at locals, though all events are open to the public. Individual events are ticketed separately rather than through a single festival pass, so visitors pick and choose which parts of the weekend to attend.
The Midlands Park Hotel is on Jessop Street in Portlaoise town centre, a short walk from the train station, with Preston House a short drive outside town. Portlaoise is on the main Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Limerick rail lines, making the festival easy to reach without a car.
Portlaoise is the county town and host to most of the festival’s programme, with cafes, shops and the town park all within walking distance of the Midlands Park Hotel. There is more to see in Portlaoise and across Co. Laois.
Heading to Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise? Laois has plenty more to see. Read the Portlaoise area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.