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seasonal · Sunday 30 August 2026 · 17:00 
The One and Only 80's Night
At Ebrington Square · Ebrington Square, Derry, Co. Derry BT47 6JE
At Ebrington Square · Ebrington Square, Derry, Co. Derry BT47 6JE
The title says it all - this one is named after Chesney Hawkes’s 1991 chart-topper, and Chesney himself will be on stage at Ebrington Square to prove he still owns it. The One and Only 80s Night is an outdoor summer concert organised by Derry City and Strabane District Council as part of the long-running Live at the Square series, and it draws a proper crowd of people who grew up with synths, shoulder pads, and the Top 40. If you have a soft spot for the music that soundtracked the decade, this is a good excuse to be in Derry at the end of August.
The bill mixes pop gloss with something a bit more leftfield. ABC, led by Martin Fry, pioneered the orchestral pop sound of the early 80s and are still a sharp live act. Marc Almond made his name with Soft Cell and has been performing with genuine intensity for over forty years. Chesney Hawkes brings the anthem the crowd has been waiting for. Add Basshunter - the Swedish dance act whose 2006 hit “Around the World” became inescapable - and you have a line-up that spans the full breadth of what the decade and its aftermath produced.
Ebrington Square holds around 5,000 people standing outdoors on the former military parade ground, which gives the evening a festival feel without being a full multi-day festival. Gates open at 5:00 PM and the show runs into the evening. The event is strictly for adults aged 18 and over.
Derry sits in the north-west corner of Ireland, reached from Belfast in about 90 minutes on the A6, or from Dublin in around two and a half hours via the M1 and A5. The Derry to Belfast Enterprise train runs several times daily and takes roughly 1 hour 45 minutes; Translink bus services also connect from Belfast and from towns across the north. Ebrington Square is on the east bank of the River Foyle, a short walk from the Peace Bridge, which links it to the city walls side. Parking in the area is limited on concert nights, so public transport or a taxi from the city centre is the more straightforward option.
The city has one of the finest intact sets of medieval walls in Europe and a waterfront that rewards a wander. The night before or the morning after the concert are both sensible times to take them in. There is more to see in Derry and across Co. Derry.
Heading to Ebrington Square in Derry? Derry has plenty more to see. Read the Derry area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.