The Liberties Festival 2026 – Dublin’s longest running community arts festival – kicks off across one the capital’s most historic neighbourhoods from Monday 20th to Sunday 26th July.
Speaking at the Festival launch on Wednesday 1st July in The Guinness Storehouse, programme director Michael McDermott said: “I hope the breadth and range of mostly free events and activities will both entertain, inform and challenge attendees. Whether it is shining a light on the traditional arts heritage of the area, exploring loneliness through social art or celebrating food we remember through clay-making workshops; along with classics and the excitement around the return of the Bartender’s Race, I hope the Festival engages with locals and finds new fans of the area and its much cherished character(s).”
Among the highlights of this year’s programme:
- An Extra Special Festival Launch: President Catherine Connolly to attend Says She, the spoken word event with Jan Brierton and Martina Keegan. People are invited to share stories under the theme of, ‘Roots and Rearers’. Take to the stage or observe from the crowd. (Monday July 20, St Catherine’s Church, Thomas Street, 7pm)
- Guinness 0.0. Bartenders’ Race: The legendary Guinness Bartenders’ Race at the Liberties Festival was last run in in the 1960s. We’re bringing it back to the fore, almost 60 years later! The Guinness 0.0 Bartenders’ Race at the Liberties Festival will give local bartenders from the Dublin 8 locale their moment in the sporting spotlight: celebrating the community of The Liberties, and of course, encouraging a bit of friendly rivalry between locals and regulars alike! From The Lark Inn to the Liberty Belle, Sunday July 26, 5.15pm.
- Bilberry Ball: The magic of the ancient festival of Lughnasa is coming to the heart of the Liberties at this specially curated Bilberry Ball where the strawboys (and girls!) will raise the dust of Michael Mallin Park for a dance party with Edwina Guckian and the Stray Sod Ceilí Band. Bilberry or Fraochán Sunday, falls on the last Sunday in July. (Michael Mallin Park, Sunday July 26, 3pm-5pm). This will be preceded by a Ramble in the morning (12pm-1.30pm), a rural tradition in which a merry band of strawboys will call and visit neighbours in the area, sharing tea, chat, music, stories, songs and news. In advance of the Ball, a Strawboys Costume Making Factory will occur on Sunday July 19 (F2 Centre, Rialto, 10am and 2pm) during which participants can make their own costumes for the Ball.
- Look out for RTÉ’s Liveline, which will broadcast from the Festival on Friday July 24! Speaking about their involvement, present Kieran Cuddihy says, “We can’t wait to bring Liveline to the Liberties. It’s a community that showcases the very best of Dublin and like any community, it’s the people living there who are the beating heart of it. So who better than Liveline to showcase that? After all, Liveline is the people’s programme.”
- Where do we all belong? is a socially engaged visual art project exploring experiences of loneliness, connection, and belonging in The Liberties. The project began in May with a research phase that sought to better understand local attitudes, experiences, and insights relating to loneliness in the area. Feedback was gathered through conversations with residents, meetings with local community groups and organisations, and an anonymous questionnaire distributed locally and available online. The project culminates with an exhibition opening at The Bank on Thursday July 23, runs until Saturday July 25. Supported by Dublin City Council Arts Office Neighbourhood Grant.
- The Tailors’ Hall Sessions: The curatorial guidelight for this programme of events was an informative and entertaining 1970s RTÉ radio interview a young Paddy Glackin undertook with the iconic traditional music collector, editor, writer, piper and son of the Liberties, Breandán Breathnach. When asked about the areas’ status as a ‘mecca of traditional music’, Breathnach wryly reminds us that it was musicians migrating into the locale from rural Wexford, Meath, Wicklow, Galway, Clare and beyond that generated what would later come to be known as ‘the music of the Liberties’” – Rósa Corcoran, Producer Wednesday July 22 to Friday July 24 featuring an extraordinary line-up of musicians, singers, dancers, broadcasters, writers, makers, thinkers and talkers who will gather to share their art include – Peter Browne, Kevin Conneff (The Chieftains), Niamh Bury, Paddy Glackin, Edwina Guckian, Seamas Hyland, Sinéad Kennedy, Libby McCrohan, Sárán Mulligan, Aoife Ní Bhrian, Ultan O’Brien, Eoghan O’Ceannabháin, Liam O’Connor, and Seán Potts. Not to be missed!
- Music in St Audoen’s: The centrepiece of the week is Organicus, a newly commissioned three-hour work by New York–based composer Steve Long, performed by organist Olesia Borsuk. Structured around the eighteen letters of the Irish alphabet, the work unfolds across eighteen ten-minute sections, creating a vast sonic landscape that gradually reveals itself throughout the architecture of the church. Throughout the week, daily afternoon performances bring together a rotating group of festival artists and guest performers in a series of musical responses to the psalms and the liturgical life of St. Audoen’s. Supported by the OPW. (Afternoon 3pm, Organiucus: Tuesday & Thursday from 7pm)
- The Liberties Festival Brew: The Liberties Festival Brew: The return of The Liberties Festival Brew, ‘Batch Bread Red’ – a limited-edition red ale rooted in the heart, humour and heritage of Dublin 8. Pouring exclusively in 13 Dublin 8 pubs until 31 August, The Liberties Festival Brew is a beer steeped in local flavour and community pride. Brewed at the Guinness Open Gate Brewery, drawing on the area’s famous batch bread trade and tradition, and crafted using local Bee8 honey, the red ale balances toasted biscuit and malt notes with a subtle sweetness and a satisfying, dried-fruit finish. Co-created with festival organisers and Dublin 8 residents, every drop of this red ale tells a story of tradition, collaboration and the evolving character of one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods. Diageo Ireland and pub stockists are making a donation for every keg sold to the Liberties Festival to support future festival programming.
- The Liberties at Dublin Municipal Theatre at Smock Alley: The Festival proudly presents community groups on the stage of the iconic Smock Alley Theatre. Featuring Mini Girlos from Oliver Bond Flats, The Libert8ies Lasses and Kids Rock Studio. (Saturday July 25 from 12)
- A Dish to Remember: Emerging from our Open Call, artist Ayelet Lalor invited community members, old and new, to come together to share stories about food memories, and engage in a clay- making workshop to make the dishes come to life. These dishes will be exhibited and their memories, as captured, shared by Jennie Moran (of Luncheonette fame) and designed by Nicky Hooper. (Fusco’s, Meath Street, Tuesday July 21, 7pm)
- Jonathan Swift’s Last Joke: Subject of a recent New Yorker article, Trinity College Law Professor David Kenny joins historian Donal Fallon to discuss Swift’s epitaph on the 300th anniversary of Gulliver’s Travels. (Arthur’s Pub, Wednesday July 22nd, 7pm)
- Talking Shop: A new series of pop-up after hours conversations with local businesses in association with the Night-Time Economy Advisor and Dublin Inquirer (Various locations, Tuesday July 21 to Thursday July 23)
- Guinness: A Family Succession, “As head of the Guinness family, I’ve always been fascinated by the lives of my ancestors, these personalities who in four generations took Guinness from nothing to the largest brewery in the world.” Join Arthur Edward Guinness (Ned), and historian Dr Antonia Hart, as he shares he shares unique insights into the story of his family in the brewing business. (Tailor’s Hall, Sunday July 26, 7pm)
- Liberties Next: Join Chats in the Flats and The Performance Corporation (Pretty Vacant) as they discuss creative responses in the community and issues of concern. MC: Anita Reilly, Friday July 24, St Catherine’s Church, 7pm.
- Living Canvas at IMMA will screen works by Gareth Gowran, Friederike Jaich and Emma Murphy which were selected from an Open Call seeking work which responds to the area.
Other events returning include classics such as the Blue Rinse Ball (July 23, Guinness Storehouse), Church Bingo, Family Fun Day, Garda vs Traders Football and new classics such as Sunrise Yoga in the Gravity Bar and Liberties X – Community Got Talent. Free walks include local social enterprise In Our Shoes. Free workshops with Smart D8, Magic Minds, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, tours of Roe & Co. Distillery and Pearse Lyons Distillery and Dublinia.
Free Talks in National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL). A Free Studio night at Throwing Shapes on Mill Street. Open Day at the Waldorf School. Free Art Mart at Hen’s Teeth. Phew!
Full details and booking for events now at www.thelibertiesfestival.com.
The Liberties Festival is proudly supported by its core funders – Dublin City Council and Diageo Ireland. Additional supporters include the Arts Council, OPW, Staycity, Ballymore, Lightheart Immersive, Heritage Credit Union, Donore Credit Union, HSSCU (Health Services Staffs Credit Union), Aloft, IMMA, Plan International, Abbey Theatre, Mannings Bakery, Lucky’s, The Libertine, The Liberty Belle, Cut Price Jewellers, Tom Kennedy’s.
The 13 participating pubs serving Batch Bread Red are: The Liberty Belle, The Lark Inn, Lucky’s, Harkins, Tom Kennedy’s, Thomas House, Lynotts, Drop Dead Twice, Coopers Lane, Morrissey’s, Peadar Browns, Hyatt Hotel, Guinness Open Gate Brewery.
The Festival’s media partners are Dublin Inquirer and RTÉ Supporting the Arts.
