Belfast will open Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026 at City Hall on Sunday 2 August, inviting everyone to come together for eight days of traditional music, dance and culture.

The celebrations begin at 12 noon on the main Gig Rig outside City Hall, where the city will strike the first note of the world's largest festival of Irish traditional music. Embracing the event's theme of Celebrating Together, the opening show will feature a specially commissioned Sharing Traditions showcase.

Performers from Ards CCÉ and the Belfast Bands Forum will be joined by artists from Arts Ekta and South Asian Dance Academy, followed by a choir of more than 130 school pupils from Belfast and North Down. Admission to the opening ceremony is free, with a lively bill including the Blackwater Céilí Band, Goitse and the Shaer, Moss and Warnock Trio.

Words of welcome will come from Belfast City Council, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann – marking its 75th anniversary – and Ards CCÉ, which celebrates 50 years in 2026. From 8pm, Sharon Shannon and her Big Band will headline, rounding off a landmark first day as Belfast, Ireland's only UNESCO City of Music, hosts one of Europe's biggest cultural festivals for the first time.

From Sunday, music will flow through the city's streets, spanning major acts, intimate gigs and spontaneous sessions. Most events are free, with some ticketed. As part of the Fleadh Fringe, Kate Nash, Ryan McMullan and Foy Vance will play intimate sets at specialist music venues in the city centre. City Hall will stage two open-air céilís at 3pm on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 August, while Comhaltas signature events include the National Folk Orchestra of Ireland, the Ceol na Cruinne International Showcase and a concert with the Kilfenora Céilí Band.

The Gig Rig at City Hall will present free music daily from morning until late, with headline turns from many trad favourites, including Sí Fiddlers and Lunása. Musicians travelling to Belfast can drop into seven pop-up session spaces across the city at 2 Royal Avenue, Castle Place, Donegall Quay/Big Fish, CastleCourt, Corn Market, the Assembly Rooms and ICC Belfast.

Belfast's diverse musical stories will feature throughout the week: the Ulster Bands Showcase takes place at Titanic Slipways on Thursday 6 August; the Connections multi-cultural showcase comes to the Gig Rig on Friday 7 August; and new music will be spotlighted at 2 Royal Avenue with Smashing Buttons sessions on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 August. Families can look forward to a wide range of activities, including children's trad trails, storytelling inspired by Irish and Ulster-Scots folklore, circus and carnival performances, Irish dancing displays, daily youth seisiúns, family recitals and a dedicated arts-and-crafts and street-entertainment space at Castle Place. The Food Village at Belfast Cathedral offers a place to refuel, while the Irish Language Hub at the MAC will host family-friendly entertainment and events delivered through Irish, from storytelling and films to circus skills.

Night-time highlights include a packed fringe programme reflecting Belfast's UNESCO music status. The Trisco (trad disco) returns on Friday 7 August at the Limelight, alongside an energetic set by the multi award-winning trio Talisk. Evenings will also feature ticketed shows and awards ceremonies at the Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall. Expect the city's venues and spaces to embrace the Fleadh atmosphere with their own events, including Late-Night Art on Thursday 6 August, as more than 800,000 visitors are anticipated across the week.

To help people get home safely after evening events, additional late-night bus and rail services will operate on Sunday 2 August and again from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August.

Beyond the sessions, there is plenty more to explore: learn about Belfast's harping heritage at lectures, discover instrument-making at Belfast Met, and visit art exhibitions celebrating traditional musicians past and present. St Joseph's Church in Sailortown, Clifton House and Friar's Bush Graveyard will host events, alongside libraries, galleries and museums across the city.

A city-wide fringe programme shaped with communities and cultural venues will bring hundreds of events to every corner of Belfast. In east Belfast, highlights include a Joshua Burnside-curated musical showcase at Banana Block on Wednesday 5 August, and a special session by pioneering members of Hearth at Bullhouse East on Thursday 6 August, reflecting the warmth and energy of the area's growing trad scene. The Hidden Dance Hall will delve into Belfast's dance heritage on Sunday 2 August, with storytelling over coffee and cake on Saturday 8 August.

Across north Belfast, visitors can take heritage tours, browse the North Block Night Market at Crumlin Road Gaol on Friday 7 August, and enjoy performances at the Duncairn and Caifé Ceoil at Áras Mhic Reachtain. Musicians from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria will perform at the Beyond Skin showcase at the Duncairn on Thursday 6 August, celebrating Persian, Kurdish and Celtic connections.

In south Belfast, The Commons will host a full programme, complemented by pop-up events in local alleyways and libraries, while the area welcomes campers at the official Fleadh campsite in Ormeau Park. West Belfast will mark the festival with family fun days, a Super Sunday community celebration, and music sessions across venues including Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich, Colin Glen Forest Park and St Gall's GAC.

The festival will draw to a close on Sunday 9 August when the newly crowned 2026 Senior Céilí Band winners perform on the main Gig Rig at City Hall. The hotly contested competition takes place earlier that evening at the Waterfront Hall, with the champions rounding off Belfast's inaugural Fleadh as All-Ireland title-holders.

For full listings and updates, visit fleadhcheoil.ie and follow Fleadh Cheoil on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok from Sunday 2 to Sunday 9 August.