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heritage · Monday 17 August 2026 · 10:00am 
Ulster Folk Museum Making Festival 2026
At Ulster Folk Museum · 153 Bangor Road, Cultra, Holywood, Co. Antrim BT18 0EU
At Ulster Folk Museum · 153 Bangor Road, Cultra, Holywood, Co. Antrim BT18 0EU
The Ulster Folk Museum’s Making Festival draws over 25 craft demonstrators to the 136-acre open-air site at Cultra for two days of hands-on heritage skill sharing. It is the kind of event where you can watch a thatcher work a roof in the morning, try your hand at cyanotype printing after lunch, and leave with a bodhrán you made yourself. Families, craft enthusiasts, and anyone curious about how things were built and made in Ulster a century ago will find plenty to hold their attention across both days.
The demonstrators cover an impressive span of the old trades: thatching, blacksmithing, stone masonry, dry-stone walling, lime washing, stained glass, leatherworking, shoemaking, goldsmithing, silversmithing, wool weaving, signwriting, willow work, and straw rope making, among others. The museum’s in-house craftspeople keep the permanent workshops running throughout - the forge, the textile room, the wood workshop - so there is activity everywhere you look across the site.
Hands-on sessions let younger visitors and adults have a go: mini bodhrán making, clay cottage building, and cyanotype printing all feature. The museum’s restored Picture House - an authentic early cinema building - hosts film screenings and live performances, with traditional musicians, pipe bands, weaving songs, and the Armagh Rhymers all scheduled across the weekend. A craft fair in collaboration with Craft NI gives visitors the chance to buy work directly from makers using heritage materials. The Ballycultra Tearooms and an outdoor Courtyard provide food throughout the day.
All demonstrators appear on both days, so a single-day visit covers the full programme.
The museum sits on the Bangor Road at Cultra, on the southern shore of Belfast Lough, roughly seven miles east of Belfast city centre. By train, take the Belfast to Bangor line from Grand Central or Lanyon Place stations and get off at Cultra - the station is right beside the site, a few minutes’ walk to the entrance. By bus, the 502a and 502b Ulsterbus services run from Laganside Bus Centre and Lanyon Place towards Cultra. The museum website offers a 20% discount on general admission for visitors who show valid public transport proof at the gate, which is worth bearing in mind. By car, follow the A2 east out of Belfast past the City Airport and keep going along the shore road - the museum is signposted on the left just past the Culloden Hotel. Parking on site is free, with overflow space available in the lower car park.
Cultra is convenient for the North Down coast, and the wider county offers the Causeway Coast, the Glens, and Carrickfergus Castle for those making a longer trip. There is more to see in Antrim and across Co. Antrim.
Heading to Ulster Folk Museum in Antrim? Antrim has plenty more to see. Read the Antrim area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.