Bealtaine Festival unveils ambitious programme celebrating arts and ageing

Today, Bealtaine Festival, Ireland’s national celebration of the arts and ageing, reveals its highly anticipated 2026 programme. 

Kicking off on the 1st of May, this Age & Opportunity initiative brings together artists, communities, and audiences for a full month of arts, entertainment and community.

From the start of the month, events unfold nationwide in arts centres and community spaces, alongside online workshops and screenings, ensuring audiences everywhere can take part.

Bealtaine Festival is proudly funded by the Arts Council and the HSE, supported by communities nationwide and a vast network of accomplished local and national bodies.

The 2026 programme continues the festival’s exploration of its Lust for Life theme, inspired by the iconic anthem by Iggy Pop.

The theme reframes ageing as a time of energy, reinvention, and creative possibility.

Following a month of nationwide activity, the festival reaches its flagship finale from the 28th to the 30th of May, taking over the Project Arts Centre in Dublin.

Across these three days and nights, audiences can experience a rich mix of performance, visual arts, music, film, literature, and dance.

This weekend forms the centrepiece of the festival, bringing artists and audiences together for a celebratory conclusion to the month’s festivities.

Alongside Project Arts Centre, the festival partners with premier venues including Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, the Irish Film Institute, the National Photographic Archive, and Photo Museum Ireland.

Bealtaine 2026 Flagship Programme Highlights

• The Big Bealtaine Tea Party: A must-see highlight of the 2026 festival, this joyful intergenerational gathering at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) blends music, storytelling and live performance. Curated by Bealtaine Citizen Curators Joe Maguire, Madge O’Callaghan and Peter Clarke, it features writer Tom Dredge, storyteller Ruth Marshall and actor Bríd Ní Neachtain.
• Nationwide Dawn & Dusk Chorus: This much-loved annual tradition returns in partnership with Sing Ireland, bringing singing groups and older singers together across the country. Voices rise at sunrise and sunset in towns, villages and cities nationwide, celebrating the festival’s Lust for Life theme through song.
• Miriam O’Callaghan in Conversation with Susan McKay: One of Ireland’s most recognisable broadcasters reflects on her career, her memoir Miriam: Life, Work, Everything, and her insights on ageing, womanhood, and life in the public eye.
• Sex (No) Drugs & Rock N Roll: Bass players Cait O’Riordan and Barry Devlin explore music, showbands, punk, addiction, abstinence and life on the road in a candid discussion chaired by Nadine O’Regan.
• Retired? You Must Be Joking!: Bealtaine Ambassadors Liz McManus and Mike Hanrahan host a lively exchange on art, ageing and visibility, joined by guests Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and Kieran Hanrahan.
• Not Dead Yet: Love, Intimacy and Dating in Later Life: A bold and candid exploration of romance in the modern age. Chaired by writer, broadcaster and storyteller Barbara Scully, this headline discussion features the iconic Rory O’Neill (Panti Bliss), musician Leslie Dowdall, and neuroscientist Dr. Sabina Brennan. From the evolution of intimacy to the realities of modern dating, the panel dives into the emotional and social dimensions of relationships in later life, followed by a relaxed ‘Mix & Mingle’ social event.
• Éireann and I present ‘This Land Bears our Name’: This special commission for Bealtaine explores older migrants’ relationships with Dublin city with newly produced images made during a sound walking workshop, together with images from participants’ personal archives.
• Won’t Be Told by Tumble Circus: A rebellious circus adventure packed with wild acrobatics, absurd juggling and irreverent comedy, touring venues nationwide throughout May.
• We Are An Archipelago: A moving spoken-word and live music performance inspired by the true story of a 99-year-old man returning to his island home after eighty years away. The piece explores friendship, homecoming and embracing change later in life.
• 6 O’Clock Rock with Sing Along Social: Inspired by 2024’s 4 O’Clock Rock, a closing intergenerational dance celebrating our Lust for Life. All welcome!

• Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: In partnership with the International Literature Festival Dublin, Phillip McMahon joins Gerry Stembridge in conversation about mentorship, influence and artistic legacy across generations.

• Johnny Got a Bus Pass: Little John Nee’s funny, heartfelt, musical and celebratory memoir. A state-of-the-nation and masterclass of the joys of being an elder punk

The 2026 programme also features National Arts in Nursing Homes Day (in partnership with Nursing Homes Ireland), artist talks, film screenings and retrospectives, visual art exhibitions, writing and memoir workshops, dance and drumming sessions, and filmmaking masterclasses throughout May.

At the launch, Dr Tara Byrne, Arts Programme Manager and Artistic Director of Bealtaine Festival at Age & Opportunity, said:

“Bealtaine Festival 2026 is one of our most dynamic festivals yet. We are presenting a wide-ranging programme that positions the festival as a landmark moment in Ireland’s cultural calendar. From nationally resonant traditions like the Dawn & Dusk Chorus to a flagship weekend packed with unmissable performances and some of Ireland’s most significant artists, Bealtaine Festival continues to challenge the perceptions of ageing while celebrating the extraordinary creative contribution of older artists and communities. These are events that demand attention and we are proud to see the festival growing in scale, confidence and impact each year.”

Bealtaine Festival is an initiative of Age & Opportunity, funded by the Arts Council and the HSE. Age & Opportunity is the national organisation working to enable the best quality of life for us all as we age.

To find out more about the 2026 Bealtaine Festival and to book your tickets, visit www.bealtaine.ie.