Arts festival opens in Tipperary bringing four days of music, theatre and family fun

Cashel Arts Festival begins today in Tipperary, bringing four days of music, theatre, storytelling, performance, street entertainment, workshops, family events and visual art to the town.

This year’s festival takes the theme “Threads”, exploring the connections between story and memory, making and material, artists and audiences, and the wider community.

Today's programme is more than an opening night: it is an invitation to follow the first threads of a festival that will weave its way through Cashel for the following three days.

This morning at the Cashel Palace Hotel, beekeeper Aoife Nic Giolla Coda of Galtee Honey Farm presented Ireland’s Native Honey Bee, an immersive talk exploring the history of Irish beekeeping.

The festival will be officially opened at 6.45pm in Brú Ború, where chairperson Gillian Clifton Brown will introduce the 2026 programme. Former Irish Navy Captain Marie Gleeson will give the opening address, while one of the festival's most distinctive new commissions will receive its premiere.

Bilingual singer-songwriter Padraig Jack, from the Aran Islands Gaeltacht, has been commissioned by Cashel Arts Festival to write an original song inspired by Cashel's heritage, landscape and sense of place. The piece has been supported through the Creative Ireland Programme with support from Tipperary County Council and is intended to leave a lasting cultural legacy for the town.

The opening evening will also feature the remarkable Calvos Contact Jugglers, whose manipulation of glass balls creates an illusion of objects floating, dancing and levitating around the performers. Admission to the official opening is free and all are welcome.

The evening then moves into music at Brú Ború, where Pat Marnane will launch his new album Music, Memories, My Piano and Me at 8.15pm. Marnane is a familiar figure to the festival through his work in sound production, but this year he steps centre-stage with his first full album of original material.

The songs draw on more than four decades of musical experience in Ireland and the United States, with themes of roads travelled, people encountered and memories retained. Tickets for the concert cost €20 and can be booked through Brú Ború at bruboru.ie or by telephone on 062 61122.

Throughout the festival, visitors can also enjoy two visual arts exhibitions: THREADS: Time, Memory and Material, a contemporary glass exhibition by the Glass Society of Ireland in the historic Cathedral Chapter House, and Blue Skies, an exhibition of landscape paintings by senior students from Scoil Chormaic at Starbucks, Cashel Town Shopping Centre.

The opening day sets the tone for a festival that highlights the idea of connection — between past and present, artists and audiences, and Cashel and the wider world.

Booking information

Audiences are advised to book early because capacities are limited. General online booking is available at www.cashelartsfest.com, while tickets may be available on the door if events have not sold out. Brú Ború events are booked through Brú Ború or by calling 062 61122. Events taking place in Cashel Library can be booked by calling 062 63825.

Principal Funders

The festival is supported principally by The Arts Council, Tipperary County Council, Cian O'Carroll Solicitors, Fáilte Ireland, Creative Ireland, Ireland’s Ancient East, Amneal, The Cashel Palace Hotel, Cultúr 2026, Culture Ireland, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and Éire2026.eu, alongside Festival Patrons, Festival

Supporters and Festival Friends. The organisers say this support is central to enabling Cashel to remain a centre for culture.

The complete programme and latest updates are available at www.cashelartsfest.com and the festival's social media channels.