Ireland's top music festivals and gigs in summer 2025
Major Music Festivals in Ireland 2025
Forbidden Fruit Festival
Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin
Dates: Saturday 31 May - Sunday 1 June
Who's playing: Jamie xx, Peggy Gou, Caribou, Underworld, Mall Grab, Glass Beams
Why go: Ireland's first major festival of the summer blends electronic, indie and experimental sounds in a lush city-centre setting.
Night and Day Festival
Lough Key Forest Park, Roscommon
Dates: Friday 27 - Sunday 29 June
Who's playing: The Stunning, Paul Brady, KT Tunstall, José González, The Wailers, Lisa Hannigan
Why go: A family-friendly event in a stunning lakeside setting, offering music, arts and wellness activities. The 150-foot Sol Stage, located atop Moylurg Tower, is a highlight.
Longitude Festival
Marlay Park, Dublin
Dates: Saturday 5 - Sunday 6 July
Who's playing: David Guetta, 50 Cent, Belters Only, Sonny Fodera, blk., Hannah Laing
Why go: A high-energy festival focused on hip hop, dance and urban pop, popular with younger audiences and fans of chart-topping artists.
Galway International Arts Festival
Various venues, Galway City
Dates: Monday 14 – Sunday 27 July
Who's playing: Picture This, Mogwai, Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Natasha Bedingfield, The Mary Wallopers, Amble, Block Rockin Beats
Why go: This multi-arts festival transforms Galway into a vibrant hub of creativity, featuring over 500 artists from around the globe.
All Together Now
Curraghmore Estate, Waterford
Dates: Thursday 31 July - Sunday 3 August
Who's playing: Nelly Furtado, Fontaines D.C., CMAT, Bicep presents CHROMA, London Grammar, Michael Kiwanuka
Why go: A 21+ boutique festival that fuses music, art, food and wellness in a picturesque setting.
Electric Picnic
Stradbally Hall, Laois
Dates: Friday 29 - Sunday 31 August
Who's playing: Kings of Leon, Hozier, Sam Fender, Fatboy Slim, Becky Hill, Chappell Roan, Orla Gartland
Why go: Ireland's biggest and most beloved festival returns with a heavyweight line-up and its signature mix of music, art and creativity.
Major Summer Concerts in Ireland 2025
Macklemore
St Anne's Park, Dublin - Wednesday, 4 June
Virgin Media Park, Cork - Thursday, 5 June
Support: Rudimental
Why go: The Grammy-winning rapper brings his high-energy show to Dublin, performing hits like Thrift Shop and Can't Hold Us.
Stereophonics - Stadium Anthems Tour
St Anne's Park, Dublin - Friday, 6 June
Virgin Media Park, Cork - Saturday, 7 June
Why go: The Welsh rockers return with their first major tour in over three years, delivering a setlist packed with fan favourites and new material.
The Corrs - Talk On Corners 2025 Tour
Virgin Media Park, Cork - Friday, 6 June
St Anne's Park, Dublin - Sunday, 8 June
Guests: Imelda May, Natalie Imbruglia
Why go: The Irish band reunites to perform classics from their bestselling album.
Faithless - Ireland Underground Tour
Troy Studios, Limerick - Friday, 6 June
Millennium Forum, Derry - Saturday 7 June
Why go: Sister Bliss and Rollo lead Faithless's return in a tribute to Maxi Jazz, with reimagined classics performed in unique venues.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Love Earth World Tour
Malahide Castle, Dublin
Date: Thursday, 26 June
Special guest: Van Morrison
Why go: A rare chance to see the rock legend live, with support from a local icon.
Duran Duran plus Nile Rodgers & CHIC
Malahide Castle, Dublin - Monday, 30 June
Virgin Media Park, Cork - Tuesday, 1 July
Why go: Dance the night away to timeless hits from two music giants.
Mumford & Sons - Rushmere Tour
Malahide Castle, Dublin
Date: Friday, 4 July
Why go: The folk-rock favourites bring anthemic energy to the picturesque castle grounds.
Oasis – Live '25 Reunion Tour
Croke Park, Dublin
Dates: Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 August
Special guest: Richard Ashcroft
Why go: The Gallagher brothers reunite for one of the most anticipated tours of the decade.
Robbie Williams – Live 2025 Tour
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Irish Examiner
'We just got lucky': Tales from the Cork lads who ran merchandise stalls for Oasis in the 1990s
Morty McCarthy remembers the first time he met one of the Gallagher brothers. It was February 1992, and the Cork man and his band, the Sultans of Ping, were sharing a bill with fellow Leesiders the Frank and Walters at the Boardwalk venue in Manchester. A local lad by the name of Noel popped up during the soundcheck to say hello. He'd been rehearsing in one of the other rooms with an unsigned group he said were called 'Oasis', and wanted to reacquaint with the Franks, a band he'd previously worked with as a roadie. Little did anyone there know that the 'sound' 21-year-old and the four lads banging out tunes in the basement were on their way to becoming the biggest band in Britain. Or that McCarthy would have a front seat on the Oasis rollercoaster. As the Sultans' career plateaued, the Greenmount drummer ended up working with the Manchester band's merchandise material in the era when they exploded onto the scene. His switch of career to the merchandise world originated in his Sultans days when, as the non-drinker in the band, McCarthy was the designated van driver. During a period of downtime in early 1994, he heard that their merchandise company Underworld needed somebody to ferry gear to various gigs. McCarthy signed up, and drafted in his childhood pal Damien Mullally when an opening came up for somebody to look after the company's London warehouse. 'Underworld were probably the biggest merchandise outfit in the UK at the time,' recalls McCarthy. 'We just got lucky, because we all started working literally a couple of months before the whole Britpop thing broke. And Underworld not only had Oasis, they also had Pulp.' Liam and Noel Gallagher messing about at Knebworth in 1996. Mullally and McCarthy enjoyed working in the merchandise, travelling to gigs and making the most of life in London. In true Cork style, they'd even managed to secure jobs in Underworld for a few more of their mates from home. Not that it was all plain sailing. There was still an element of anti-Irish feeling in the UK in the mid-1990s – especially in the wake of the IRA bombing of the Bishopsgate financial district in 1993 – and going around in a van full of boxes meant the Cork duo were regularly stopped and questioned at police checkpoints. 'We also got a bit of it around Abbey Wood where we lived, but things were much better when we moved to Hackney, which was more multicultural,' says Mullally. Meanwhile, between April 1994 and the release of Definitely Maybe at the end of August, a real buzz was building around Oasis. The three singles Supersonic, Shakermaker, and Live Forever, had been hitting incrementally higher chart positions, and the album went straight to number one in the UK charts. The Gallagher brothers had arrived. For the Cork duo, the gigs they worked were getting ever busier, and the few dozen t-shirts and other bits they'd previously sold were now getting to hundreds and even thousands of units. Underworld realised they were going to need a bigger boat. Or at least a decent lorry. This created a bit of a conundrum as nobody in the company had the special licence required in the UK. Step forward the lad with the Irish licence which, at the time, was universal and didn't need the special HGV training. 'I'd never even sat in the truck before,' recalls McCarthy, now 55, of the day they went to hire their new vehicle from a yard near King's Cross. 'I just thought, how hard can it be? We got in and the first thing I did was hit a barrier. I was just thinking 'I'm not going to be able to reverse this. So whatever we do, we'll just have to drive it forward'. I suppose we had this 'It'll be grand' attitude. I wouldn't do it at this age!' Morty McCarthy on a merchandise stall back in the 1990s. Life on the road was a mixture of good fun and hard work. Depending on the tour, Mullally and McCarthy would sometimes be living on the crew's bus, or other times driving to venues themselves. Of course there were some late nights and partying along the way, but the Oasis entourage also had a serious work ethic. 'If everybody knew that did a couple of days off, then there might be a big party and a bit of a blowout. But a lot of the time, people were up early to get set up at the next venue, and working long hours through the day. You wouldn't have been able to do your job if you were partying all the time,' says Mullally, now working at the Everyman theatre in Cork. 'People got on very well on tour. You knew you just couldn't be invading people's private space or doing the langer in any way.' The band themselves travelled in a different bus, but both Mullally and McCarthy recall the Gallagher brothers as being down-to-earth lads who were always pleasant to deal with. 'I think because we were Irish, that helped too,' says Mullally. 'Yes,' agrees McCarthy. 'I even remember Noel joking with us about Taytos and Tanora!' He does recall a friendly disagreement before a gig in Bournemouth when Liam Gallagher fancied his footwear. 'We had this Dutch driver who used to come every week delivering merchandise, and he used to sell Adidas off the back of the truck. I'd bought this pair of orange Adidas. Liam collected Adidas trainers. He was like 'I'm having your trainers.' And I was going no, and he was like '100 quid!'.' While it was predominantly merchandise that kept Mullally and McCarthy involved with Oasis, they also dropped a load of equipment for the band to Rockfield Studios in 1995. Those sessions at the Welsh studio would of course spawn (What's the Story) Morning Glory?,the second album that would propel the band to stratospheric levels of popularity. On the road, part of the Cork duo's job was dealing with the increasing amount of bootleggers who were selling unofficial merchandise near the venues. 'We'd go out to chat to them, and then of course it'd turn out that a lot of them were friends of the Gallaghers from Manchester,' says Mullally. 'They were mostly nice guys so you'd just ask them to push back a bit – 'Just go down to the end of the road to sell your stuff'.' The mid-1990s was an era when everything was paid for in cash. This meant the two Cork lads would sometimes end up with tens of thousands worth of banknotes in cardboard boxes or plastic bags in the back of the truck or in a hotel after a gig. Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis arriving at Cork Airport in 1996. Picture: Dan Linehan An event like Knebworth in 1996 – when Oasis played to 250,000 people across two days – created even more issues. 'A few times a day we used to do a cash-run to get the money off the stall. Somebody would come along with a backpack and we'd stuff it with maybe 10 grand in notes," says Mullally. "You'd try to be as inconspicuous as you could walking through the crowd with that on your back, hoping that nobody comes at you.' Knebworth had 'proper' security vans taking the cash from the event HQ, but Mullally recalls the earlier days when himself and his co-worker would have to bank the money. 'You can imagine with all the stuff that was going on at the time, and two Irish guys coming into the bank with 20 grand in cash, sometimes even in deutsche marks if we were after a European tour. They'd be looking at you strangely, and you know that they're just about to push a button. But they might make a few phonecalls or whatever and we'd eventually get it done.' Knebworth is widely regarded as the high point for the band, but McCarthy also has particularly warm memories of the gig they played in his hometown just a few days later. 'I couldn't believe they were actually playing in Cork at that stage,' he says. He drove the truck from the UK via the Holyhead ferry, but as he arrived at Páirc Uí Chaoimh ahead of schedule, they wouldn't let him into the arena. Wary of leaving a truck full of merchandise parked around the city, McCarthy drove it to the seaside village of Crosshaven. 'When I got there I decided I'd leave it at the carpark at Graball Bay. I didn't even know if it'd fit up the hill but I just about managed it,' he recalls. When he went back later that evening to check everything was ok, there was a big crowd of children gathered around the emblazoned truck. 'There was a big mystery in Cork about where the Gallaghers were staying, and the word had gone around that this was their truck. One of the kids asked me 'Are Liam and Noel coming out to play?' I had to shoo them away.' Oasis merchandise has become an even bigger business since the 1990s. Picture: Lucy North/PA Those two Cork gigs were among the final dealings McCarthy had with Oasis. He has since moved to Sweden, where he teaches English, but regularly returns to the merchandising world for tours with various other bands. He's happy the Gallagher brothers are back together, and realises he was part of something special in the 1990s. 'It's hard to explain people the energy in the UK that the Britpop thing had. Musically, I didn't think it was the greatest, but the energy was phenomenal,' says McCarthy. ' I think at the time, the Indie scene was very middle class. But then along came Oasis. We probably didn't realise we were living in a golden era, but we had the time of our lives.'
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
The charming Irish city tourists say is 'better than Dublin' but gets overlooked
A pretty little city in Ireland that offers a unique blend of old-world charm and contemporary energy has been hailed as "better" than Dublin. Galway often referred to as the "City of Tribes," is a vibrant and culturally rich city located on the west coast of Ireland. This city is known for its artistic spirit, lively atmosphere, and proximity to some of Ireland's most stunning natural landscapes. Travel blogger The Tales of Tiny Boots wrote about Galway: "When I think of Dublin city, I think of people rushing around, walking as fast as they can through the streets, glued to their phones and getting to their next destination. "The atmosphere is cold. Now to jump to Galway. How do you even compare it? As well as cultural capital, the city is bathed in bohemian vibes that every visitor falls in love with. It feels like Galway is one long 24/7 festival. There is music always drifting through the streets, there are crowds of people milling around and if there is sun, you will find every patch of grass occupied by groups of people drinking, laughing and having the craic. "Life is a lot slower in Galway. People walk slower, they are not rushing and focused on where they need to get, they just enjoy walking around the city. The relaxed vibes emanate from the cobbled streets of the Latin quarter. It is such a happy atmosphere in the streets coupled with amazing performers enticing walkers by to stop and enjoy the entertainment." Galway is a cultural powerhouse, renowned for its thriving arts scene, Express reports. The city hosts numerous festivals throughout the year, including the Galway International Arts Festival, Galway Film Fleadh and the Galway Races. Traditional Irish music is a constant presence in Galway's many pubs, where you can enjoy live performances in an authentic setting. The main street in Galway (Image: Douglas Sacha) The city was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2020, highlighting its status as a centre for creativity and cultural expression. The city centre is characterised by its narrow, winding streets that date back to medieval times. Eyre Square, the Spanish Arch and the Claddagh area are just a few of the historic sites that give the city its distinct character. Another interesting reason for the tourists to be in the city is its food scene. The food culture is diverse and thriving, with a strong emphasis on local produce and seafood. The city is home to several award-winning restaurants, as well as a variety of cafes and food markets. Galway's nightlife is legendary, with a wide range of pubs offering everything from traditional Irish music sessions to modern live bands. The Latin Quarter, in particular, is a popular area for both locals and tourists to enjoy a night out. Sunset view over The Claddagh in Galway city (Image: (Image: Getty)) One traveller wrote on TripAdvisor forum: "Galway Bay is the site of a historic city in the West of Ireland. These days, the cobbled narrow backstreets are homes for artisans. Among the artisans are those who knit the ganseys. 'Ganseys' are derived from 'Guernsey,' which are worn by fishermen. "The ganseys are uniquely knit to a family pattern, which helps identify those fishermen who work at sea. The Claddagh is a historic fishing village that is known for its location and beauty. Galway is a wonderful place to wander around in search of artisan products." A second user said: "Sat here while visiting with my daughter in Galway and ate our donuts and bagels from the market that day. The market is a must-do as the food is incredible as well as the arts and crafts you can see and buy." Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- RTÉ News
Mission to MARS - Jennifer Walshe on her acclaimed space opera
Composer Jennifer Walshe introduces Irish National Opera's production of her opera MARS, composed by Jennifer with a libretto by Mark O'Connell, which runs at the Abbey Theatre this August following an acclaimed World Premiere at this year's Galway International Arts Festival. I recently read an interview with the astronaut Chris Hadfield where he noted that he has been as astronaut for over 20 years, but has spent only a precious six months in space. I'd like to think this opera has something in common with Hadfield's experience. A mere two hours long, it's nonetheless the result of years of thinking about Mars, a fascination which began for me as a child looking at photos of the red planet in a copy of Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Along the way my research led me to the sounds of NASA's Perseverance rover trundling over the regolith of Mars, recordings of whistlers, plasma waves and cosmic background radiation, sonifications of light curves of exoplanets millions of miles away. I spent weeks trying to figure out how to use musical instruments to simulate the sonic environment inside a spacesuit, how many balloons to tie to a double bass bow to simulate Martian gravity, which is 38% that of Earth's. I downloaded lists of the synth-heavy music astronauts uploaded to the International Space Station (a lot of Mike Oldfield and Vangelis), read mission transcripts from the Gemini and Apollo missions, discussed how a trumpet might degrade over time in a Martian habitat on the Space Exploration Stack Exchange. I held a Martian meteorite in my hands at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, read countless sci-fi books, left livestreams of spacewalks playing on a screen in the corner of my studio as I worked. I considered a life where communication with loved ones back home can only ever be through text messages and voicemails. The fact that on the night of the opera's Dublin opening at the Abbey Theatre, a message leaving Earth will take 14 minutes and 54 seconds to reach Mars.
