Liverpool Irish Festival – October 15th-25th 2026

Since 2003, the Liverpool Irish Festival has been celebrating and exploring the deep ties between Liverpool and Ireland through art, music, history, and community, and 2026 will be no different.

From October 15th to the 25th, the festival will be entertaining, informing, and intriguing anyone who comes along to one of the many events they have scheduled. There are also satellite events taking place on either side of the main festival dates.

This year’s theme is I Am Here, a declaration of presence which asks what it means to arrive, to stay and to be seen. The program explores identity, belonging and the right to be recognised on your own terms, while also confronting some difficult parts of Irish history, including An Gorta Mór, the Troubles and institutional abuse.

Around 10,000 people are expected to take part over the 10 day festival, so thousands of Scousers can remind themselves of the connection Liverpool has always had with Ireland (including the accent links).

It’s an important cultural annual project, and this year looks like it will be more thought provoking and engaging than ever.

Events and Tickets

Musical highlights include the return of Dublin seven-piece Kíla, who will play their first Liverpool show for eight years, and Téada, who are celebrating 25 years on the road. Both will perform at the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room.

The theatre program includes High Tea, Obscured View and The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong, starring Don Wycherley as a man wrongfully convicted over the Guildford pub bombings.

The festival preview and launch features musician and storyteller Enda McCabe, who has returned to performing following a kidney transplant. There is also a special I Am Here performance at Sefton Park Palm House involving more than 50 musicians and dancers.

The annual An Gorta Mór vigil will follow the Walk of the Bronze Shoes route from Clarence Dock to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church. This leads into a memorial service, where the commissioned song The Ullaloo will be led by the Liverpool Irish Centre choir.

Liverpool Irish Famine Trail tours, a free Family Day at the Museum of Liverpool, exhibitions and a Samhain Céilí are among the other events taking place.

While there is lots of entertainment, the festival is about much more than just enjoying yourself. It’s about remembrance, identity, creativity, politics, heritage and making sure important stories are seen and heard.

Check the festival website to see the complete program. Events are taking place at different locations, and while some are free and open to anyone, others are free but ticketed, and some charge for entry.