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seasonal · Thursday 16 July 2026 · Various 
Boyle Arts Festival
At Boyle Town Centre · King House, Boyle, Co. Roscommon
At Boyle Town Centre · King House, Boyle, Co. Roscommon
Every July, Boyle stops being a quiet Roscommon market town and becomes the most culturally busy spot in the west of Ireland for ten days. The Boyle Arts Festival runs from 16 to 25 July 2026, drawing together drama, classical and traditional music, literary evenings, visual art exhibitions, workshops, children’s events, and spoken word across several venues in the town. It is the kind of festival that suits anyone who enjoys serious arts without a serious price tag - many events are low-cost or free, and the scale is human enough that you can wander in without a rigid plan and still find something good.
The festival opens on 16 July with a street parade through the town centre, which sets the tone: inclusive, community-rooted, and genuinely festive. From there, the programme runs daily for ten days across a wide spread of disciplines.
King House, the festival’s main hub, hosts the headline visual arts exhibition each year - in 2026 that includes the Boyle Open Art Exhibition and a documentary by Emma Brennan about the restoration of King House itself. King House is a substantial early Georgian mansion on the main street, built in 1730 for the King family, later used as a barracks for the Connaught Rangers, and restored by Roscommon County Council in the 1990s. It holds the Boyle Civic Art Collection, one of the larger public art collections in Ireland, so even outside festival events it is worth a look.
Confirmed performers for 2026 include Onóir (17 July, St Joseph’s Hall), These Charming Men (18 July), comedian Jason Byrne (23 July), Mary Coughlan (24 July), and The Swing Cats (25 July). Writer Michael Harding appears at King House on 18 July. Music covers traditional, jazz, and contemporary strands. The full daily schedule is on the festival website with a planner tool you can filter by date or event type.
Boyle sits on the N4 Dublin to Sligo road, roughly 160 km from Dublin and 55 km from Sligo. By car it is a straightforward drive; turn off the N4 at the Boyle junction. The town is also on the Dublin Heuston to Sligo rail line, with Boyle station a short walk from King House and St Joseph’s Hall. Bus Eireann services connect Boyle to Roscommon town and Sligo. Parking in the town centre is generally easy and free.
The town sits beside Lough Key, one of the most scenic loughs in Connacht, and Lough Key Forest Park is a few kilometres east on the N4 - it has waymarked trails, a treetop walkway, and the ruins of an island castle. Boyle Abbey, a twelfth-century Cistercian ruin managed by the OPW, is a short walk from the festival hub and free to enter. There is more to see in Boyle and across Co. Roscommon.
Heading to Boyle Town Centre in Boyle? Roscommon has plenty more to see. Read the Boyle area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.