Róisín Ingle, Michael Harding, and Elaine Feeney are the first artists to be announced for this year’s Allingham Arts Festival taking place in Ballyshannon, County Donega, this November.
Spring is here, and the Allingham Committee are springing back into action once again planning for this year’s Allingham Festival in November.
We have a few names ready to share with you, so make sure you keep an eye on our socials for announcements, and suscribe to our mailing list to keep up to date with our line-up news and competition details as they are confirmed.
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We're back!
The Allingham Arts Festival returns to Ballyshannon this November 4th–8th, and we can't wait to throw open the doors again.
Five days of arts, music, history, and storytelling — featuring local, national, and international artists in the heart of south Donegal.
More details coming soon. For now, save the dates:
November 4th–8th, 2026 | Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal
Well, that was an opening night we won't be forgetting!
Ballyshannon Samba band kicked us off with their usual energy, then in for the reception in the foyer before a melodic treat from the Coláiste Cholmcille Choir under the directorship of Mark Cronin.
County Council Arts Officer, Traolach O'Fionnáin did us proud in his official opening of the festival with an engaging few words tracing a parallel path between the venue, the festival and his own career. Finally, there was the Allingham Lecture by Nelofer Pezira-Fisk. She traced her personal history and that of her late husband, Robert Fisk, into an analysis of the current state of international geopolitics in the Middle East and around the world.
She expressed trenchant views, not all of them shared by everyone in the audience but no one could doubt the depth of her knowledge and the intensity of her commitment to truthful reporting on the reality of the modern world.
Thanks to Brian ODroma for the excellent photos.
We are so grateful to Collie and all the staff in Bundoran and Ballyshannon libraries for the tremendous work they have done in staging an exhibition to coincide with our Remembering: Brian Friel event.
Apart from Co Donegal Library Service's own fascinating collection of Brian Friel related works you can view rarely-seen examples of his journalism, an original poster from the opening night of Translations and much, much more.
The exhibition will outlive the festival; by how much, we're not entirely sure but it will be influenced by the degree of interest shown so, if you're in Ballyshannon any Wednesday or Friday in the coming weeks, please drop in.
Opening Hours:
Wednesday: 9.30am - 1pm & 2pm - 5.30pm
Friday: 9.30am - 1pm & 2pm - 5.30pm
