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seasonal · Saturday 8 August 2026 · 9:00am 
51st Annual Moynalty Steam Threshing Festival 2026
At Moynalty Steam Threshing Museum · Moynalty, Kells, Co. Meath
At Moynalty Steam Threshing Museum · Moynalty, Kells, Co. Meath
Every August, the small village of Moynalty in north Co. Meath fills with the hiss of steam, the smell of hot iron, and the sound of horses working as they did a century ago. Now in its 51st year, the Moynalty Steam Threshing Festival is one of the longest-running agricultural heritage events in Ireland - a full two-day occasion that rewards families, history enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to see vanishing rural crafts kept alive in working form, out in the open air of the museum’s parkland grounds.
The centrepiece is exactly what the name promises: working demonstrations of horse and steam power, reaping and binding, threshing and flailing, using original period machinery. Alongside the main threshing displays, traditional craftspeople fill the grounds - basket weavers, blacksmiths doing hot shoeing, tin craftsmen, wood turners, and harness makers. A vintage road-making display recreates how Irish country roads were built over a hundred years ago.
The 2026 festival includes the 2nd International Farrier Competition, bringing competitors from across Ireland and beyond to contest traditional horseshoeing skills. Music runs all day: Nathan Carter and his band headline, with All Folk’d Up, Gavin Gribben and band, and Matt Leavy also on the bill. The Jennifer Brady School of Irish Dancing performs on site. Children have their own amusements and a dog show to enter. Craft stalls and food stalls round out the day, which runs from 9am to 7pm.
Moynalty is a small rural village on the R163, roughly 10km south-west of Kells and about 70km north-west of Dublin via the M3. There is no regular bus service to Moynalty itself, so your own transport is the practical option. Free parking is available on site at the festival grounds. Kells is the nearest town with good road connections and services if you are coming from further afield.
The festival makes a good anchor for a weekend in this quiet corner of Meath, and Kells - with its round tower and high crosses - is only a short drive away. There is more to see in Moynalty and across Co. Meath.
Heading to Moynalty Steam Threshing Museum in Moynalty? Meath has plenty more to see. Read the Moynalty area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.