Boyne Music Festival 2026 Invites Audiences to Rediscover Ireland’s ‘Forgotten Spaces’
The Boyne Music Festival returns for its 13th summer from Thursday 23 July – Sunday 26 July 2026, and today announces the full programme, now available to explore online. This year’s festival presents a vibrant mix of chamber music, poetry, film, workshops and visual art across some of the Boyne Valley’s most distinctive historic locations.
This year’s theme, Forgotten Spaces, invites audiences to reflect on the structures we inhabit, preserve and neglect across Ireland. From abandoned buildings to overlooked corners of everyday life, the festival explores how spaces shape personal experience and collective memory, and how they can be rediscovered through music and art.
‘The relationship between music and place has always been central to the festival, and this year’s theme, Forgotten Spaces, allows us to explore that connection in a deeper way’, says Aisling Manning, Co-Director.
Founded in 2013 by twin sisters Aisling and Julie-Anne Manning, alongside their cousin Deirdre Brenner, the Boyne Music Festival has become a much-loved fixture of Ireland’s cultural calendar, known for its intimate atmosphere and high-calibre performances. The 2026 programme continues this tradition, bringing together exceptional Irish and international artists alongside emerging voices.
Highlights from this year’s programme include the opening concert Echoes at Slane Castle, an evening of poetry, chamber music and song featuring works by Kate Wakeling, Luboš Sluka and David Hirschfelder, alongside arrangements of music by Sting and U2, and Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence. At St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, Drogheda, the concert Foundations explores musical form and structure through works by Giovanni Sollima, Franz Schubert and Edward Elgar.
The festival also expands beyond the concert stage with a screening of Philip Denvir’s award-winning documentary Leave Only Footprints, followed by a discussion on dereliction and urban exploration, and a photography exhibition of abandoned spaces in Ireland by Irishmanlost. Participatory events include a poetry writing workshop led by Kate Wakeling at Townley Hall, as well as a performance workshop for amateur string players, offering the opportunity to play alongside festival musicians in a professionally guided session. Additional tours, talks and family events take place across the weekend.
Festival events take place across Townley Hall, Slane Castle and St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, Drogheda, three unique venues that offer intimacy and architectural character, enhancing the connection between performance and place.
The 2026 festival features an outstanding lineup of Irish and international artists, with both familiar faces and exciting new voices.
The full programme is now available at boynemusicfestival.com.
Tickets go on sale from 4 May for the General Public.