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arts · Saturday 4 July 2026 · 8pm 
Sion - Sounds from a Stormy Day
At Cairde Sligo Arts Festival Venue · Sligo
At Cairde Sligo Arts Festival Venue · Sligo
On the opening night of Cairde Sligo Arts Festival, musicians perform not against a bare wall but against a gallery of storm photographs - real images of lightning, dramatic skies and rare weather phenomena captured by Noel Fitzpatrick, a Sligo-based meteorologist who has spent years documenting what happens when the Atlantic cuts loose. Síon: Sounds from a Stormy Day pairs original live music with that imagery, and suits anyone who likes their concerts to have something to look at as well as listen to.
The performance brings together original music and Noel Fitzpatrick’s storm photography - images of weather events most people only glimpse from a window. Set against that visual backdrop, the music takes on the atmosphere of the photographs: scale, the quiet before a downpour, the drama of a sky doing too much at once. It is the kind of event that sits between a gig and an art installation without quite being either.
Síon falls on the opening evening of Cairde, a week-long festival running 4 to 11 July that spreads music, theatre, dance and circus across venues throughout Co. Sligo. The opening weekend draws the biggest crowds, so arriving in good time is worthwhile.
Sligo is on the N4 from Dublin, roughly two and a half hours by car. Bus Eireann runs regular services from Busaras and from Galway. Iarnrod Eireann’s Sligo line terminates in the town centre, which is compact and walkable between festival venues. Parking fills quickly on festival evenings - the Quayside Shopping Centre car park is the most convenient option.
Sligo has deep connections to W. B. Yeats - he grew up here and is buried at Drumcliff, below Benbulben - and the landscape that runs through his work is still very much as he described it. The Model arts centre on The Mall is worth a look, and Sligo Abbey is a short walk from the town centre. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Cairde Sligo Arts Festival Venue in Sligo? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Sligo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.