From Body & Soul to Forbidden Fruit and Electric Picnic, there are plenty of summertime festivals to excite, delight and thrill all the ardent festival campers this coming season.
So, dig out the dinky flat heeled ankle boots, the Boho clothes you wouldn’t normally wear, plonk on the obligatory flower hair wreath and your on point witty T shirts to start planning those weekends full of music, street food and way, way too little sleep.
Its Festival Time!
Ireland really knows how to do festivals! These days there are just so many to choose from. From good clean family fun to hippy trippy eco warriors or just blasting it out to sounds with the gang. Our unique Festival guide will help you plan your summer events and make May to August fly by in a haze of festivals….
May
‘Life’ comes to Mullingar on the 24th-26th May. Life is the festival of dance music and yeah… it will be waking up the sleepy surroundings. Located in the amazing surroundings of Belvedere House where the grounds and the lake are a perfect background for the chance to make your moves to international and local dance music talent. Electronic music fans throng to Life and it is easy to see why. Celebrating its 15th year, this is Ireland’s most revered and well-established electronic music event, in other words this is the dance music mecca.
June
There are so many festivals to enjoy in June.
Forbidden Fruit kicks the month off at Kilmainham, in the grounds of the iconic Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. The June bank holiday is the perfect timing for this six-stage festival event which offers an eclectic range of music over all tastes and styles. An awesome line-up includes Elbow, Skepta, Danny Brown and Mura Masa. Comedy, art and great food combine to make this gig an annual go –to event for so many die-hard fans. Cocktails, parties, fashion and lots and lots of amazing sounds make Forbidden Fruit a Festival that represents the diversity, uniqueness, fun and craziness of the capital city.
Solstice brings Midsummer madness in Cavan. Fake beaches but real craic. A food village, the Sunset stage and the club arena nightclub make this festival sound like the place to be in June. The Facebook page is alive with beautiful people having beautiful fun. Solstice only started last year with its inaugural festival and all reports were pretty positive. On the downside, they have yet to announce their acts for 2019, while tickets have been on sale for the past few months. But then, maybe it’s all about the ambiance and making the longest day of the year seem like the shortest. June 22nd in case you don’t know when the Solstice is.
Body and Soul ( 21st– 23rd June) in BallinLough Castle, Co Meath is often referred to as the ‘grown up’ festival, and caters well for those who haven’t quite left their raving days behind, but like some concerted recycling and hot stone massages before they dance it out in the big tent. A Fantastic line up in a beautiful setting with little interesting arty bits and musical cameos behind every faery tree, Body and Soul is more than just a yoga-momma day out. Super friendly (yeah, even family friendly-vibe) and well organised event, this festival does exactly what it says on the Marquee… it restores the equilibrium to the Body and Soul. Choose the quiet tent camping area, if you have had adverse reactions to lost drunk visitors stumbling in on top of your cosy sleeping bag. Choose the normal camping sites if you want the option of late-night revelling and partying. There is a family friendly site too, if you have wee ones in tow.
Sea Session, Bundoran 21st -23rd June. Donegal’s surf music festival is headlining 2019 with Sigrid, the Sugar-hill gang, The Two Door Cinema Club and a host of other excellent music. This is an awesome line up to accompany all the tanned beautiful people camping out along the Wild Atlantic Way for one of Ireland’s super fun events. Sea Sessions is in its 12th year and unsurprisingly, it sells out every single year and has dedicated festival returnees. It’s a festival for the fit and freaky, for the buffed and tanned and for all who love to bop to music by the ocean waves. Body Boarding, surfing, volleyball and numerous other exhausting events are enjoyed by the happy crowd. Of course, an equal number of festival goers enjoy lifting pints and swaying gently to this cool, slick line-up.
Bulmer’s Festival. Every Thursday is Festival time at Leopardstown Racecourse. From June 6th to August the 15th, All summer long, Leopardstown brings you a fantastic line-up of live gigs, great food, and thrilling horse racing on the Racecourse. Bulmer’s Live at Leopardstown has all the makings of a great night out, with a difference. Concert & Racing for only €17! The great thing about this gig is that the kids can come too, for a lower ticket price, naturally. So, get ready to enjoy bands like The Stunning, The Bay City Rollers (who??) and many others. Free shuttle buses and Luas at certain times. Book the next block of Friday’s off from work and enjoy Festival Nights
July
Longtitude. We love Longtitude! In Marley Park, Dublin from the 5th to the 7th July. However, it seems a bit mean to tell you that CardiB has been announced as the last headliner in this awesome festival. Why? Because it is all sold out folks! Yes, 2019 tickets have been snapped up. But should you win some on a radio show or blag some from a friend then you are in for a treat. Longtitude has a rep for attracting the younger festival goers (18-25) and is one of Dublin’s biggest outdoor music festivals. Sell a kidney or donate a limb for a ticket to this gig. Trust us, you won’t regret it.
August
Another Love Story Festival takes place in Killyon Manor, near Kinnegad, Co West Meath from the 16th to the 18th August. It’s really hard to describe this event and probably because we have not been, but mainly because the organisers say this
‘Out of the quickest of thoughts, the faintest of notions, the momentary flash of imagination’s incandescent light bulb & the heartfelt meanderings of a group of friends – Another Love Story came to life. A bespoke weekender of music, art, conversation, food, fun & frolics nestled in and amongst the glorious grounds of Killyon Manor.’
Hmmm…. The intriguing website and eclectic musical line-up promises a more genteel festival than the norm and with a whimsical arty type edge. It’s still camping! It’s still festival time! But it is probably not the place for the bag o’ cans and the throw away BBQ. Dig out the wicker picnic basket and the box of merlot. Class line-up of music too!
Electric Picnic. It’s synonymous with being young in Ireland. How many of today’s yummy mummy’s and hipster dads popped their festival cherry at The Picnic, it is still the most popular outdoor music event in Ireland, and a big hit for first time and veteran festival goers. Over the years its audience has graduated from its ‘breakfast rolls and leave the tent behind image’, into a music loving, fun following audience and Electric 2019 is another well organised, well attended festival. But, let’s not get too excited as tickets went on sale in December 2018 and sold out in 15 minutes. 2020 beckons lads. Let’s not get left behind.
For more info on any of the festivals: