Greetings from The Wolf & Seahorse
There has never been a week like this in Belfast, and that is not a line we use lightly. Belfast hosts the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann for the first time in the city's history, Féile an Phobail is building to its finale across the west of the city, and every venue in between is programming like it's New Year's Eve.
The Fleadh runs until Sunday with sessions on every street. Altan and Frankie Gavin & De Dannan share a Mandela Hall stage on Saturday. The Kilfenora Céilí Band, the National Folk Orchestra and the Comhaltas International Showcase take consecutive nights at the Ulster Hall. The Oh Yeah Centre has free block parties three nights running, Billy Gillies headlines Féile Dance Night in Falls Park, and a 40-stall food festival sets up beside the SS Nomadic.
This is our pick of what's on this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
Runs to Sunday 9 August · citywide
The world's biggest celebration of Irish music has come to Belfast for the first time in its 75-year history, filling the city with céilís, competitions, concerts and street sessions until Sunday. The organised events matter less than the simple fact of it: walk through the city centre any evening this week and there will be music coming out of doorways that never had music before. Most of the outdoor programme is free, Translink is running Fleadh bus specials, and the best plan is no plan.
Titans of Trad: Altan and Frankie Gavin & De Dannan
Saturday 8 August · 20:00 · Mandela Hall
Two of the defining bands of Irish traditional music on one bill: Altan's Donegal fiddle tradition next to Frankie Gavin's fireworks with De Dannan. Either would headline any normal festival on their own; sharing a stage in Fleadh week is the kind of booking that only happens when the whole tradition comes to town at once. If you buy one ticket this week, this is the argument for it.
Féile an Phobail: the final weekend
To Sunday 9 August · Falls Park and venues across West Belfast
While the Fleadh takes the city centre, the west closes out its biggest Féile ever, more than 700 events deep. The Saw Doctors, Hothouse Flowers and Aslan play Falls Park on Friday, Féile Dance Night takes over Saturday, and the whole thing lands with the Let the People Sing concert on Sunday. Two of Ireland's biggest festivals ending on the same weekend in the same city; sleep in September.
Fleadh Community Fringe: The Breath
Wednesday 5 August · doors 19:30 · The Duncairn
One of the most quietly devastating acts on the Irish and UK folk circuit, in the converted church on Duncairn Avenue that has become the North's best listening room. Stripped-back songs, real atmosphere, and it's bring-your-own-bottle, which suits the place. Over 18s.
With A Fada Takeover
Wednesday 5 August · 19:30 · Oh Yeah Music Centre
The magazine documenting the new wave of Irish trad curates a night of the artists doing the pushing: emerging names beside established ones, all rooted in tradition and none precious about it. £8.50 to hear where this music goes next, two streets from where the competitions decide where it's been. Over 18s.
Ceol na Cruinne: Comhaltas International Showcase
Thursday 6 August · 19:00 · Ulster Hall
Trad musicians from Japan, Finland, Dubai, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Italy and North America, all playing Irish music because somewhere along the line it claimed them. The global Comhaltas network is the Fleadh's least-told story and this £15 concert is it, live. Unallocated seating, so come early for the good rows.
The Vibes
Thursday 6 August · 19:00 · Oh Yeah Music Centre
Paul Brady and Christy Moore songs rebuilt as reggae and ska by an eight-piece of Irish, Scottish and Swedish players, with trad musicians Elaine Murphy and Conor Brady sitting in. On paper it shouldn't work; the whole point of going is finding out that it does. Free entry, and it launches the Oh Yeah's new Yard Stage. Over 18s.
Fleadh 2026: Folk Orchestra
Friday 7 August · 19:00 · Ulster Hall
Sixty young musicians, singers and dancers of the National Folk Orchestra putting traditional tunes through full-ensemble arrangements. The scale is the show: this many players this good, this young, on the Ulster Hall stage, for £15. BSL and ISL interpreted, which too few concerts bother with.
Kíla & Brass with Clare Sands
Friday 7 August · 20:00 · Mandela Hall
Kíla's trad-funk engine with a brass section bolted on, plus Cork fiddle force Clare Sands as special guest. Sold out, which surprised nobody, but returns surface during festival weeks more than most. Worth watching the listing rather than writing it off.
Lótus Azul
Friday 7 August · 19:00 · Oh Yeah Music Centre
A new Belfast project launching with a free block party on the Yard Stage: soulful grooves, funk, jazz and Afro-Latin rhythms with guest musicians dropping into open jams. Fleadh week is exactly the right moment to be reminded Belfast's musical map is bigger than trad. Free, over 18s.
The Kilfenora Céilí Band
Saturday 8 August · 19:00 · Ulster Hall
The Clare institution has been playing dance music since 1909, and their current stage show adds choreography and the band's famous between-tunes slagging to a century of rhythm. Céilí music played this tightly is a physical experience, not a heritage exercise. £15, unallocated seats, under 14s with an adult.
Féile Dance Night
Saturday 8 August · from 16:00 · Falls Park
Belfast's own Billy Gillies, one of the biggest dance exports the city has produced, headlines Falls Park with Giuseppe Ottaviani, Cassio, Kimmic and a run of local DJs in support. A homecoming set at the peak of the biggest Féile ever has a ceiling somewhere above the marquee. Not the night for a quiet pint in the beer tent.
Soultrane Takeover
Saturday 8 August · 19:00 · Oh Yeah Music Centre
Ireland's first programme dedicated to soul, jazz and music of Black origin throws a free car-park block party: DJ Dee La Soul, Tribal Ting, Manukahunney and a women-of-colour artist collective. Soultrane has been invited to Downing Street for Black History Month; getting them for free in a car park is Fleadh-week luck. Over 18s.
Fleadh on Film: Celtic Utopia
Wednesday 5 August · 18:00 · Queen's Film Theatre
A documentary about the young artists who dragged Irish folk somewhere new, with music from eighteen acts including The Mary Wallopers, Lankum and Poor Creature. Watching it in a city mid-Fleadh, surrounded by the very scene it documents, is the correct viewing condition. Pay what you can, from £4.
Lavery's Bus Tour: Pints, Punks & Paramilitaries
Thursday 6 August · 10:30 · from Lavery's, Bradbury Place
Ninety minutes around Belfast with Paul "Donzo" Donnelly, a former Lavery's doorman named the UK's top tour guide by Wanderlust, telling the city's story through its bars, bands and worst decades. £20 including a pint back at Lavery's afterwards, which is where the real second half of the tour happens. Books out fast.
The Green Room Exhibitions: Hana Abri Smith
Thursday 6 August · opening 18:00 to 21:00 · Black Box
Fold It In: oil paintings and collage from a Belfast artist who is also a trad musician, made by watching dancers rehearse and painting the space between watching and joining in. An artist working both sides of the Fleadh divide, opening during Fleadh week, is good programming. Free in, and the opening night is the night to go.
Fleadh on Film: Crock of Gold, A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan
Saturday 8 August · Queen's Film Theatre
Julien Temple's portrait of MacGowan, built from unseen family and band archive with animation by Ralph Steadman. It's a love letter that never looks away from the wreckage, which is the only honest way to tell that story. Check QFT for the exact time; pay what you can pricing applies across the Fleadh season.
Titanic Food Festival
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August · 11:00 to 17:00 · Hamilton Dock
Forty stalls of street food, artisan producers and craft drinks beside the SS Nomadic, with cookery demos, DJs and trad sessions breaking out across the site all weekend. Session players are encouraged to bring instruments, so the soundtrack builds itself. The rare food festival where the setting does as much work as the stalls.
Irish Language Craft and Culture Market
Sunday 9 August · from 10:00 · Conway Mill
Crafts, books, food and family activities with the Irish language at the centre, in the restored mill off the Falls Road on Féile's closing day. A gentler way into the final Sunday than the concerts, and you'll leave with something you didn't know you wanted. Cúpla focal optional.
Sundays on the Maritime Mile
Sunday 9 August · from 11:00 · Queen's Quay and the waterfront
The free Sunday waterfront series leans Celtic for Fleadh weekend: live music from 1pm to 3pm, 1912-style photo experiences from 11am, and the Titanic Distillers pop-up into the evening. Pairs neatly with the food festival a short walk along the dock. No tickets, just turn up.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Belfast check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
Thanks for reading The Wolf & Seahorse!
If you enjoy the newsletter or you find it useful here are some ways you can help us:
💌 Forward it to a friend, neighbour, or your local WhatsApp group
📝 If you were sent this and want in on the action, sign up here.
💛 Consider supporting the newsletter with a monthly subscription (coming soon)
See you next week 👋
P.S. Not feeling it anymore? No hard feelings. You can unsubscribe from the email footer below