Spectacular lineup announced for Kilkenny Arts Festival

From theatre to contemporary dance, from visual arts to music of all genres, literature and so much more, Kilkenny Arts Festival (KAF) presents each August an exciting programme of events of the highest calibre, thrilling audiences of all kinds in some of the loveliest buildings in Kilkenny.

Some highlights of the 2026 programme include:

The World Premiere of The Curing Line from the thrilling company Straymaker which won the Fedora Prize

Land of Winter - the Grammy Award-winning work from Donnacha Dennehy, performed by Crash Ensemble with conductor Ryan McAdams

World Premiere of Equal from Dennehy, a new work for two pianos, with Festival debuts from David Kaplan and Timo Andres

The Irish Premiere of The Last Tape, a new operatic version of Beckett’s beloved text with Gare St Lazare Ireland

After astonishing festival audiences in 2025 the team behind Secret Byrd returns with the Irish premiere of The Death of Gesualdo

A community and citywide theatrical retelling of the story of the Kilkenny Witch Trials in The Alice Project with Asylum Productions

A thrilling aerial performance where the performers use the strength of their hair to bear their body weight.

The Hubert Butler Lecture given by Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson.

Pop up performances in secret gardens around the city.

Festival Director, Olga Barry said:

‘”We’re thrilled to announce the 53rd Edition of Kilkenny Arts Festival - a programme where bold new work sits front and centre at Kilkenny - where Kilkenny audiences see and hear work first, staged in unique ways, and where major projects are made especially for Kilkenny. With opera, theatre, music and performance all changing the boundaries of artistic expression, Kilkenny Arts Festival welcomes those with curious minds and open hearts -welcoming the blurring of lines and discarding the ‘labels’. This programme brings the celebration of humanity to the fore - we can’t wait to welcome audiences to the Marble City in August”.

A highlight of this year’s festival promises to be the world premiere of the winner of the Fedora International Opera Prize. Straymaker in association with Kilkenny Arts Festival, Mirriors Étendus, Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern and Once Off Productions present the world premiere of The Curing Line winner of the Fedora International Opera Prize, ahead of dates in Paris this autumn. Set in 1990s Ireland, a young woman in a border town inherits an ancestral healing power, but loses her ability to use it, with devastating consequences. This bold new work takes the audience on a journey through the thin veil between sickness and health and asks, do we still have the power to heal?

With a creative team of Michael Gallen, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Shawn Fitzgerald Ahern, Clara Baget, Pai Rathava, Simon Cullen and Yukiko Yoshimoto; cast includes Amy Ní Fhearraigh and Sarah Shine and a stellar chamber ensemble of Romain Bly, Joséphine, Caimin Glimore, Maria Ryan and Oisín Walsh-Peelo.

More premiere performances include Asylum Productions with The Alice Project, the story of the Kilkenny Witch Trials in five parts - intimate storytelling in various locations, bookended by two large outdoor spectacles - The Demon Dance on the city’s large Parade (Friday 7), and culminating in The Burning, set on the grounds of St Kieran’s College (Saturday 15). Created with a community cast and with a collective of makers including writer Clare Monnelly, Medb Lambert and Fern Kealy, with directors Dónal Gallagher and Janice de Bróite, choreography by Cindy Cummings and music by Dave Holland.

Another festival highlight will be The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture: Meitheal, Community and Food Sovereignty with Mary Robinson (hosted by Olivia O'Leary) at St Canice's Cathedral on Sunday, August 9 at 5pm. Light Up the Castle has also become an annual highlight with a new commission each year - this year Rift created and directed by Jack Phelan, will light up Kilkenny Castle, an uplifting spectacle to counter the sense of the world being an overwhelming place; produced in association with OPW, see Kilkenny Castle in a whole new light for a family audience. Another exciting inclusion in this year’s programme is pianists Timo Andres and David Kaplan have their KAF debuts this summer with two programmes at St John’s Priory that explore the work of John Adams, Steve Reich, and Meredith Monk.

kilkennyarts.ie