Liverpool Irish Festival 2026

The Liverpool Irish Festival is back for its 24th edition, running from 15 to 25 October across the city. It's a ten-day stretch, but the whole thing sits inside a wider twelve-week programme with satellite events running from 1 October right through to 2 November, so there's plenty to pick from even if you can't make the main window.

This year's theme is I Am Here, and it's built around the act of arrival—claiming space and being seen on your own terms. The festival chair, Dr Ann Hoskins, describes it as being as much about the present as the past, celebrating the multi-heritage Irish life that's still thriving in Liverpool today. The programme is built on personal identity, female heritage, community resilience and modern Anglo-Irish creativity, with contemporary drama, traditional céilís, visual arts, literary discussions and guided walking tours running through it.

There's a deep history behind it, too. Founded in 2003, it's the UK's largest Irish arts and culture-led festival, and it's rooted in the story of the 1.8 million Irish Famine poor who entered Liverpool through Clarence Dock between 1845 and 1853. The festival takes in the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, which follows the Great Hunger across the North West, and the 'Cultural Connectedness Exchange Network' of Irish and Northern Irish artists. Funding comes from Liverpool City Council's Cultural Arts Investment Programme and the Irish Government's Department of Foreign Affairs Emigrant Support Programme, with Tourism Ireland as sponsor.

Events are spread across the city, including the Liverpool Irish Centre, the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, Unity Theatre, Sefton Park Palm House and The Bluecoat. Many of the exhibitions, lectures and community workshops are free with no booking required, while individual tickets for the headline shows range from £5 to £18.