Liverpool Irish Festival sets 11-day October return
Liverpool Irish Festival returns across Liverpool from Thursday 15 to Sunday 25 October, bringing more than 30 music, theatre, literature, heritage and family events to venues around the city. Prices will vary by event, with some activities free; the full programme and booking details are due to be released in August.
The main festival is aimed at the general public, families and Liverpool’s Irish diaspora. Its venues include Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, Unity Theatre, Sefton Park Palm House, the Museum of Liverpool, Bluecoat and St Luke’s Bombed Out Church. Satellite events will extend the programme from 1 October to 2 November.
Kíla leads a programme spanning music and theatre
Dublin seven-piece Kíla will return to Liverpool for the first time in eight years, performing at Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room on Friday 16 October. Traditional Irish group Téada, marking 25 years on the road, will play the same venue on Friday 23 October.
The wider music programme includes more than 50 musicians and dancers at Sefton Park Palm House on Thursday 22 October. The Phogues will mark 40 years since The Pogues released their debut album, “Red Roses for Me”, at Liverpool Irish Centre on Saturday 24 October.
Theatre highlights include Victoria Fradgley’s “High Tea” at Liverpool Irish Centre on Saturday 17 October and Geraldine Moloney Judge’s one-woman football show “Obscured View” at Hope Street Theatre on Wednesday 21 October.
Don Wycherley will star in the award-winning “The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong” at Unity Theatre on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October. Inspired by the Guildford Four memoir “Life After Life”, the production follows a man who was wrongfully convicted 50 years ago. Those dates fall within the festival’s extended satellite programme rather than its central 11-day run.
‘I Am Here’ explores presence, identity and painful histories
The 2026 theme, “I Am Here”, frames the festival as a declaration of presence and a claim to being seen, named and recognised. More than 50 artists, musicians, dancers, writers, filmmakers and thinkers will consider what it means to arrive in a city, culture or life.
Some events address An Gorta Mór, the Troubles and institutional abuse in Ireland. Organisers say care notices, post-show conversations and signposted support services will accompany relevant work.
Heritage events include new Liverpool Irish Famine Trail tours on Saturday 24 October and a South Liverpool walk on Sunday 18 October. The annual An Gorta Mór vigil begins at Clarence Dock at 10am on Sunday 25 October, retracing the Walk of the Bronze Shoes route to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church. A memorial follows at 1pm, where Liverpool Irish Centre choir will lead the commissioned song “The Ullaloo”.
“Shared Lands” at Liverpool John Moores University on Monday 26 October will present research about the Choctaw Nation’s 1847 gift to people starving in Ireland.
Free books events and a family day at the museum
Central Library will host four free events on Saturday 17 October. The programme includes a Witty Wicklow Writers workshop, Sue Divin discussing “Runaway Road”, Doug Devaney exploring inherited diaspora identity through “Black Vinyl”, and PJ McKeown presenting his punk memoir “By Acting the Fool”.
Families can attend a dedicated day at the Museum of Liverpool on Saturday 24 October. The Armagh Rhymers will present an exclusive Liver Bird story about First Nations support for the Irish during the Great Hunger, alongside Merseyside dance schools, Melody Makers and Brave Maeve children’s activities. The Palm House event and Samhain Céili at Liverpool Irish Centre are also identified as family events.
Visual arts will stretch beyond the main festival dates. Bluecoat Display Centre will pair Adam Frew’s County Derry porcelain with Maureen Lynch’s Dún Laoghaire silver throughout October. The Victoria Gallery & Museum will host the St Brigid’s Arms, a fictional Irish pub created by and for women of Irish heritage in northern England, from 2 October.
What visitors can plan now
Events will be distributed across several Liverpool venues, so visitors will need to check the location attached to each programme entry. No single festival start or finish time has been published, and prices, booking arrangements and detailed transport information have not yet been released. Some events are confirmed as free.
New access social stories will be available for festival venues to support neurodivergent visitors and people with additional access needs. The festival also says support services will be provided where programmes address sensitive subjects.
A preview takes place at Liverpool Irish Centre at 6pm on Wednesday 14 October, featuring musician and kidney transplant survivor Enda McCabe. The next confirmed planning milestone is the full event release in August.
Source: Culture Liverpool News
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Dates, venues, programme highlights and available visitor information were checked against the Culture Liverpool News announcement.
- Confirmed the main festival dates as 15–25 October 2026.
- Separated the central festival run from satellite events scheduled between 1 October and 2...
- Checked named venues and performer dates against the published programme preview.
- Marked prices and booking arrangements as pending where details have not been released.
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- Culture Liverpool News
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- 2026-08-10 19:01
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