Food festivals galore, phone-free yoga sessions and a bring your own art show are among the best events happening around Ireland this May.
Bollinger Style Concierge at Punchestown Festival
Until 3 May, Punchestown, Kildare, more info here
The Bollinger Best Dressed Competition is raising the stakes in 2025 with the debut of the Bollinger Style Concierge, an elegant and immersive style experience set to elevate the fashion and beauty offering at this year’s Punchestown Festival.
Alternating Current
1-4 May, The Complex, Dublin, more info here
Exploring the theme ‘Urban Scores’, this edition of Alternating Currents is inspired by the writings of Elena Biserna, and seeks to provoke sonic works that can both score the city and be scored by it. The programme will feature live performances, broadcasts, workshops, and artistic interventions, inviting artists to interpret Dublin City—and cities at large—through a sonic lens.
Birr Festival of Music
1-5 May, Birr, Offaly, more info here
Birr Festival of Music returns for its ninth edition with their most ambitious programme to date. The RTÉ Concert Orchestra will open the festival with a spectacular evening of orchestral and operatic favourites. Acclaimed singer Liza Pulman and award-winning jazz pianist Gareth Williams will explore the Great American Songbook while male vocal quartet 4 in a Bar will perform at Craughwell’s Courtyard.
Drogheda Arts Festival
2-4 May, venues across Drogheda, more info here
This multidisciplinary arts festival spans two days of national and international performances along with a visual arts exhibition, music and street spectacle. Highlights include a one off performance by Seefeel, a Walk, Talk and Chalk session with Caoimhe McCarthy, and a captivating afternoon of Irish traditional music.
Galway Theatre Festival
2-10 May, venues across Galway, more info here
Experience brave new voices, wild creativity, and performances that will challenge and excite you at Galway Theatre Festival. Programme highlights include Hothouse from Malaprop, which is a story of generational trauma woven together with the climate crisis; The Loved Ones, a wonderfully witty play about motherhood, grief and family; and When All The World Is Quiet, a new play exploring individual responsibility in the face of colonialism.
BIIRD The Hystorical Tour
2-4, 17, 23-25 May, venues across Ireland, more info here
Iconic 11-piece all-female trad super group BIIRD will be hitting the road this month, making pitstops in Cork, Limerick, Derry, Mayo, Belfast and Dublin. Their energy is unmatched, and they’re helping to keep traditional Irish music alive while drop kicking it into the future. We spoke with mother BIIRD Lisa Canny earlier this year about the synthesis of method and magic, the value of authenticity and changing what it means to be a woman in trad. Read it in full here.
The Festival of Gardens and Nature
3-4 May, Ballintubbert Gardens and House, Laois, more info here
A two-day festival of talks, workshops, demos, garden tours and more, this is all about discovering the latest ideas for creating an ecologically sustainable and beautiful garden and appreciating our natural surroundings with more understanding.
Restival
3-4 May, Mount Congreve Gardens, Waterford, more info here
A rejuvenating weekend experience, Restival’s schedule features yoga in the Walled Gardens, pilates on Maple Lawn, Qigong on Beech Lawn and forest bathing throughout the gardens. There’s also a number of speakers hosting talks, including Sonya Lennon, who will be sharing her inspiring insights, and a fitness class with Karl Henry.
The Motherload Live: Getting Your Spark Back
7 May, AVOCA Dunboyne, Meath, more info here
Join us for our next Motherload event, where we will speak to health and fitness coach Emma Dowling, content creator Siobhán McAuley and sex educator Jenny Keane. These women will share their own stories and specialist knowledge of navigating motherhood.
Live Collision International Festival
8-10 May, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, more info here
Live Collision is a pioneering, curated festival where live art meets fearless innovation. It is an avant-garde fusion of performance, discourse, and experimentation that challenges conventions, ignites new ideas, and redefines the possibilities of liveness in contemporary culture.
Federico Albanese
9 May, Pavilion Theatre, Dublin, more info here
Federico Albanese is a genre-defying Italian musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He returns to Pavilion Theatre to celebrate the release of his highly anticipated fifth album Blackbirds and the Sun of October.
Wine & Design
9 May, Outset Design, Galway, more info here
The second edition of Outset Design’s Wine & Design series of talks and events showcasing some of Ireland’s finest designers, makers and products will consist of a conversation between designer Lynne O’ Loughlin, artist Siobhan McNutt, and architect and artist Elisabeth Banim.
WellFest
10-11 May, IMMA at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, more info here
Europe’s largest health, fitness and wellness festival, WellFest have returned with another incredible lineup to get your health racing and make sure you leave well fueled, both mentally and physically. This year’s highlights include a sex education workshop from Jenny Keane, a fitness session with celebrity trainer DB DONAMATRIX, and a run club with Nadia Power.
Bring Your Own Art Show
11 May, Hen’s Teeth, Dublin, more info here
The next edition of Bring Your Own Art Art Show kicks off in Hen’s Teeth with 30% of art sold on the day going towards charity, while the other 70% goes directly to the artist. Photos, paintings, napkin scribbles – all easily hung artwork welcome, so if you’re an aspiring artist this is one for the books.
Candace Bushnell: True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City
13 May, 3Olympia, Dublin, more info here
In her new one-woman show, New York icon Candace Bushnell, the international best-selling novelist and creator of Sex and the City takes the audience on a whirlwind tour of New York City, from Studio 54 to the lipstick jungle and beyond, sharing her remarkable stories of fashion, literature and sex.
The Shark Is Broken
13-17 May, Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, more info here
Step aboard the Orca and into a behind the scenes deep dive of the making of Hollywood’s first blockbuster, Jaws. This Olivier Award-nominated play stars Ian Shaw (War Horse, Common) as his father, Robert Shaw, alongside Dan Fredenburgh as Roy Scheider and Ashley Margolis as Richard Dreyfuss.
Dublin Dance Festival
13-24 May, various locations across Dublin, more info here
Dublin Dance Festival’s 21st Edition is an invitation to come together with courage and curiosity, and to dance. The programme includes bold new commissions and award-winning performances, plus club nights, workshops, talks and discussions.
Ballymaloe Festival of Food
16-18 May, Ballymaloe House, Cork, more info here
The Ballymaloe Festival of Food is a celebration dedicated to the journey of exceptional cuisine from the soil and sea to your plate. This three-day event is jam-packed with activities and meals for food and sustainability lovers, as well as talks and discussions from some of the best names in the game.
Love is a Stranger
17 May, Juniper’s Barn, Sligo, more info here
Another Love Story are bringing their roaming mini festival series to the epic landscape of Ireland’s North West to present Love Is A Stranger in Juniper Barn. A one day/night offering, expect their customary mix of ALS magic complete with another carefully chosen lineup including God Knows, RÓIS, Susan O’Neill and Negro Impacto.
Irish Pop Up Collective’s summer pop-up
18 May, The Royal Marine Hotel, Dublin, more info here
Over fifty Irish brands and businesses will come together for a summer pop-up hosted by the Irish Pop Up Collective in the Carlisle Suite at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire. The shoppable showcase will feature a wide variety of products fashion, beauty, homeware and more.
SAMSÚ Cabin’s first phone-free event
18 May, Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin, more info here
SAMSÚ Cabin are bringing together some of Dublin’s best communities for a day of creativity, yoga and cáinte. There’ll be a guided yoga session, mending workshops, a ciorcal cáinte while you embroider, all while you listen to some readings from Oscar Wilde as you craft and chat. The digital detox will take place across two sessions.
Lovely Days Live
23-25 May, St. James’s Gate, Dublin, more info here
This three-day music, food and culture experience is boasting one of the best lineups of the summer, with the cream of the Irish music crop heading to the the Home of Guinness for the Lovely Days Live summer series. Kicking off with Barry Can’t Swim and Jyoty on Friday, then CMAT, Morgana and BIIRD on Saturday, they’ll be closing out the weekend with Fontaines DC and Lankum. Insane stuff.
Life Design Workshop with DÉFREIN
23 May, DEFRÉIN Studios, Shankill, Dublin 18, more info here
Feeling stuck? Get clarity on your current goals through this super fun and creative workshop. Led by Life Design Coach Caoimhe de Fréin, you will get to create your own vision board while Caoimhe expertly guides you through the steps to manifest your new life. It’s a way to explore your creative side while setting intentions and creating a vision for the year ahead.
Street Feast
25 May, across Ireland, more info here
Celebrating its 15th year this year, Street Feast is an annual weekend of street parties and community lunches to give you a reason to get together with your neighbours to share food and enjoy some conversation and camaraderie. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or house, all you need is a space to bring people together. You can sign up to host your own now.
Blackwater Valley Opera Festival
From 27 May, Lismore Castle, Waterford, more info here
This year’s summer opera festival features a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Shakespeare in Music concert, a mezze picnic, and open air musical performances — to name but a few.
Bord Bia Bloom
From 29 May, Phoenix Park, Dublin, more info here
Bord Bia Bloom returns for its 19th year as Ireland’s most celebrated festival of gardening, food, and sustainable living. Brimming with colour and creativity, it heralds the start of summer with a dazzling display of glorious gardens, fabulous food, and enthralling entertainment to entice visitors of all ages.
Forbidden Fruit
31 May & 1 June, IMMA at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin, more info here
In the heart of Dublin city, Forbidden Fruit is the capital’s first and longest-running city-center festival. Now in its 11th year, the festival lineup is perhaps the best one yet, featuring Jamie XX, Caribou, Peggy Gou and Jazzy, to name a few.
A Taste of Galway
Throughout May, venues around Galway, more info here
From natural wine pairings to seafood trails, pop-up feasts, chef swaps and global flavours rooted in West of Ireland ingredients, this year’s festival is your perfect excuse to try something new, meet new people, and enjoy the buzz of Galway.
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