Across the north west, from Buncrana to Ballinamore, there will be no shortage of events taking place to celebrate Culture Night.
Buncrana will come alive with a creative trail through the town, under the theme "Edge of the Atlantic, Heart and Sound of the Arts".
The cultural trail will transform Buncrana's Main Street from 6pm into a living gallery and open stage.
Visitors can follow a trail featuring live music performances, a DJ set, a collage workshop, storytelling sessions, a photography exhibition, poetry, face painting and more.
Buncrana’s Night-Time Economy Advisor, Sophie Gallagher said the planned events are designed to celebrate Buncrana’s creative spirit while boosting the evening economy.
'An Púca’ in Letterkenny Town Park
Inishowen Carnival will present ‘An Púca’, a magical sculpture and performance trail through Letterkenny Town Park.
The event will feature three striking large-scale Púca sculptures, a lantern and sculpture trail through the park, roaming characters and live performances.
As daylight fades, audiences will be treated to two showings of dance, music and fire (8pm and 9pm), featuring Fusion Dance Company, Aishlingí Dance Academy and In Your Space Circus.
World Culture Open Air Performances
Adjacent to Letterkenny Town Park’s skateboard area, the World Culture Open Air Performances will celebrate Donegal’s multicultural community.
Performers from Ukraine, Ireland, South Africa and the Indian community will bring the Town Park amphitheatre to life with music, dance and song.
Each performance offers a glimpse into the rich traditions and contemporary expressions of artists who now call Donegal home.
Exhibitions
The Regional Cultural Centre will launch several exhibitions on Culture Night, including ‘Another Time Undone’, which explores how family, land and legacy shape artistic practice as well as the Irish Guide Dogs Exhibition by Clay M8.
Meanwhile, at the Donegal County Museum, an exhibition entitled ‘Working Over By’ highlights the work experiences of Donegal men and women in Scotland from 1940 to 1990.
Cabaret, choirs and orchestra
The Letterkenny Regional Cultural Centre’s Night Cabaret will bring a lively late-night celebration of music, dance and performance.
The line-up includes Indian cultural dancers, African song, Irish dancing, a Ukrainian choir, world music DJ and MC, poetry and theatre.
Donegal Chamber Orchestra will perform the music of Bach, Handel, Sibelius and Bizet in Conwal Parish Church.
Following that performance, The Conwal Singers will bring together over 60 choral singers for an evening of reflective choral music at 8pm.
Music and dance in the heart of Letterkenny
Líonra Leitir Ceanainn will host an evening of Traditional Music at the Market Square Bandstand on Letterkenny’s Main Street from 7pm.
The ZoNa Dance Company will provide a showcase of innovative choreography featuring live performances, interactive workshops, and screenings of previously filmed dance pieces at their studio on Canal Road.
South Donegal and Inishowen events
Donegal Town will join in Culture Night celebrations with ‘When Three Choirs Meet’, a performance that brings three choirs - EnCor Tirconaill, the Donegal Abbey Singers and the Bluestack Chorale together for a special choral celebration.
Inkwell and Pretty Baked in Donegal Town are also coming together to host a poetry cafe.
The Old Barracks Studios and Gallery - an artist-run space in Ballyshannon invites the public to explore its newly acquired studios in the historic Old Barracks building.
Donegal Gaeltacht
A Cultural Bus nó ‘An Bus Cultúrtha’ will provide transport to various cultural events in the southwest Donegal Gaeltacht that will take place earlier in the day.
Storyteller Eithne Ní Ghallachobhair and musicians Steve Cooney and Dermot Byrne will perform in Scoil Náisiúnta Mhín Tine Dé between 7.30pm and 9pm.
Seanchas Sheáin Néill will host an Oíche Airneáil in Áislann Rann na Feirste while another Oíche Airneáil will take place on Oileán Ghabhla - a ferry will be provided from Machaire Rabhartaigh Harbour in the late afternoon.
A storytelling and art evening for families will take place in Leabharlann Phobal Ghaoth Dobhair from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
Culture Night Sligo
Sligo is set to come alive with music, art, theatre, workshops as more than 30 free events will take place across the Yeats county.
Highlights include a multi-cultural celebration at The Model, a moon-themed evening of poetry, film and music at Yeats Society Sligo, and Allta Creations’ roving street theatre, The Púca Roams, inspired by folklore.
Across the county, visitors can experience a revival of ancient Irish annal-writing at Sligo Folk Park in Riverstown, art and writing in the dramatic Gleniff Horseshoe (gRounded), and a surf culture celebration with Barry Britton in Strandhill (Tides of Expression).
Other standout events range from traditional music in the medieval surrounds of Sligo Abbey to a powerful exhibition of The Hands of History bronze sculptures at Hawk’s Well Theatre, and the feel-good community sing-along Sligo Sings at City Hall.
Sligo Baroque Orchestra with soloists including Mossie Martin with O’Carolan Trio will perform the music of O’Carolan and some of the music being performed in Ireland during his lifetime, including that of composers Geminiani, J F Lampe, Cousser, Purcell, Handel and more at Sligo Presbyterian Church.
'Community as a Superpower'
'Community as a Superpower' is one of the flagship events in Sligo will take place at The Model from 4pm to 8pm. Families and young people can enjoy hands-on experiences from Japanese woodblock printing to calligraphy while savouring a food feast from Sligo Global Kitchen to the beat of live music and Congolese dance.
The WB Yeats building will host a moon-themed evening with family workshops, poetry, a reading of The Rising of the Moon, screenings of A Trip to the Moon and a closing set from Magnata music. This event is inspired by Yeats’ life-long fascination with the moon and its influence on our daily lives.
An intergenerational exhibition of work by local Cranmore residents, created during community art classes and youth programmes and led by Sligo artist Cormac O’Leary will take place at the Cranmore Community Workship and Garden.
A 40-year photographic retrospective of the Spanish Armada shipwrecks at Streedagh, part of the Remembering the Armada Festival, will be displayed at Sligo City Hall.
Audiences can enjoy a live music broadcast from The Model in partnership with RTÉ 2FM, atmospheric performances in the Yeats Building’s Oak Moon Garden Café and rising teenage bands at The Nest.
Culture Night Leitrim
Leitrim will host a series of cultural events throughout the county. The Ballinamore Historical Society will host a concert with the Bugs Ukelele Band at the Island Theatre.
The Leitrim School of Art will host an Introduction to Irish Ceramics where participants can get hands-on with clay and explore the timeless art of Irish ceramics.
A group of emerging artists and creative community members will join visual artist Harriet Myfanwy Nia Tahany in transforming a series of outdoor mural walls into vibrant works of art in Ballinaglereagh.
The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon will host a series of events open to all ages and abilities - from Sean-Nós steps to Zimbabwean Freedom Dances, an Irish language tour in the gallery, and a late-night techno house party led by Leitrim’s newest DJ collective.
Leitrim Design House will host two exhibitions - 'The Co-Create II' and 'Hey Bulldog!'.
'The Co-Create II' exhibition celebrates projects from four Leitrim Artists - Colette Langan, Erika Marks Helena Golden and Bairbre Kennedy.
Amanda Vencatasamy of the Hey Bulldog! exhibition will host a live interactive tufting demo where visitors can experience the process behind creating contemporary textile art.
Attendees will be invited to try tufting on a shared frame. This event is suitable for adults only due to the tools involved and nature of the interactive demonstration.
The Market Yard will host Carrick Trad and Drumsna Comhaltas who will provide a mix of traditional music followed by a screening of Bernie Masterson's film ‘The Call of the Shannon’, topped off with a concert from Rakish.
The Glens Centre in Manorhamilton and Adaptation Film Festival will present an open-air screening of The Miracle in Golden’s Yard at 8pm.
The Leitrim Sculpture Centre will host, Gaza Biennale, a collaborative international art project that features over 50 artists from Gaza, serving as a form of resistance against the ongoing war, destruction, and suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Drumshanbo Library will host Leitrim Women in Music and Song with Fionnuala Maxwell. Dromahair Library will host Folklore and Fairy Doors with renowned storyteller Aine Brosnan while Kinlough Commmunity Centre will host an evening of history, music and conversation with Dr Padraig McGarty.
Nearby in Kiltyclogher, the village library will host writer Brian Leyden for an evening of stories on family secrets.
The Banquet Hall of the Manor House in Fivemilebourne will host June McCormack and Michael Rooney for an early evening concert.
The Leitrim Organic Centre will screen Birdsong, a poignant 52-minute documentary directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O’Sullivan.
