Culture Night 2026: Music, art, film, history and performance across County Wexford tonight

County Wexford will come alive with music, theatre, art, film, history, dance and traditional culture this evening as Culture Night returns with dozens of free events taking place across the county.

Culture Night 2026 takes place this Friday, September 18, from 4pm until late, with arts centres, libraries, heritage sites, churches, community spaces and other venues opening their doors.

Events are taking place across all five municipal districts, with most free to attend, although advance booking is required for a small number of activities and capacity may be limited.

Wexford Town

Wexford town has one of the busiest programmes of the evening.

The celebrations begin during the afternoon, with Red Moon Creative Arts Theatre taking to Trimmers Lane from 4pm, followed by the Sheila Grace Dance Company at 4.40pm and the St Patrick's Fife and Drum Band at St Peter's Square Bandstand from 4.30pm.

The bells of Rowe Street Church will also take centre stage with a bell-ringing demonstration running from 5pm until 7pm.

The Makers House on Wexford Quay opens from 5pm until 8.30pm, with visitors invited to meet artists and craftspeople and enjoy storytelling, music, drawing, clay and other creative activities.

The Westgate Visual Art Studios will hold an open-studio evening from 5.30pm until 8pm, while Wexford Library hosts the WexTrad Weekend Reveal Night with Senan Lillis and guests from 5.30pm.

At Wexford Arts Centre, the Memory of a Free Festival exhibition will remain open until 9pm, while singer and composer Aileen Lambert presents Singing Letts… In a Wexford Village at 8pm.

Music features strongly throughout the town.

At Greenacres Gallery, Ceol Cuisle — the Wexford Flute Choir — performs from 5.30pm, followed by The Peacock's Feathers at 6.15pm, Selskar Strings at 7pm, the Bridge Singers at 7.45pm and the Wexford Folk Orchestra from 8.30pm.

The National Opera House hosts a packed evening beginning with 11-year-old Wexford pianist Bohdan Grechko at 6.15pm.

The Quay Notes follow at 6.30pm, Wexford Chamber Choir perform at 7pm, young artists from the Wexford Factory take to the stage for a Wexford Festival Opera recital at 7.30pm and Wexford Light Opera Society rounds off the programme from 8pm with songs from Broadway, the West End and musical theatre.

Elsewhere, Wexford writers A.M. Cousins and Margaret Galvin present Imagine That! at Access 2000 from 6.30pm, although booking is required.

Music for Wexford hosts two live concerts at St Iberius Church from 7.30pm, while the HFC Concert Band marks its centenary alongside the Northumbria Wind Band at Rowe Street Church from 7.30pm.

At the Friends' Meeting House on High Street, the Loch Garman Brass Band performs music from film and television at 7.45pm while the Oyster Lane Theatre Group performs at the Talbot Hotel from 8pm.

There is also an Irish-language Culture Night event, 'S Í Do Theanga Féin Í!, at Halla na bProinsiasach from 7.30pm, while Wexford Pride Culture Night runs at Sinnott's Bar from 7.30pm until midnight with queer bingo, performances and karaoke.

The Fringe Collection at Kelly's on the Corner Food Yard from 6pm will meanwhile showcase alternative and underrepresented artists working across a range of visual-art forms.

Gorey and North Wexford

Gorey will host events from late afternoon into the night.

Gorey Library begins at 4pm with Bharatanatyam Indian classical dance, followed by classical guitarist Chien Buggle at 5pm and the Gorey Ukes at 6pm.

The library will also host North Wexford – Then and Now, an exhibition from the North Wexford Historical Society comparing images of the area in the past and present.

At St Michael's Church, a programme running from 4pm until 9pm includes a photographic exhibition, guided tours exploring the people associated with the church and an organ recital from 8pm.

Visual art is well represented, with the Gorey Urban Sketchers Exhibition at Kate Kos Studio from 6pm and photographer JP Keating's Here, Together community photography project at Christ Church Old School, also from 6pm.

A painting workshop with Caroline Bergin takes place on Esmonde Street from 6.30pm, while Collaborative Clay at Gorey Art Collective runs from 7pm.

Gorey School of Art will be particularly busy. Screen Wexford presents an evening of locally produced short films from 6pm until 10pm, while three creative workshops begin at 7pm.

Young local musicians will take over the Loch Garman Arms for the Gorey Battle of the Bands Culture Night Showcase from 7pm until 10pm.

At The Book Café, Ceol Mo Chroí Culture Club will bring generations together through traditional song, music, stories, poetry, dance and the Irish language from 7pm.

Gorey-based folk duo Poems Ago perform at The Hatch Lab from 8pm, while in Coolgreany, Makeshift Productions offers a sneak preview of Gary Owen's Romeo & Julie at the Handball Alley from 8pm until 10pm.

In Kilmuckridge, parents and teenagers can take part in a circular weaving workshop at the Family Resource Centre from 6pm until 8pm.

Enniscorthy, Bunclody and Rathnure

History, traditional music and community art feature strongly in the Enniscorthy programme.

At Enniscorthy Castle, visitors can try Norman shield painting from 4pm, while a live reconstruction of the historic painting The Shadow begins at 5pm.

The Windows of Enniscorthy Art Trail will turn shopfronts and other spaces across the town into an open-air gallery from 4pm until 7.30pm.

At Enniscorthy Library, traditional singer, researcher and composer Aileen Lambert presents From Verse to Song from 4.30pm.

Music Generation Wexford brings specially curated music as Gaeilge to St John's Amphitheatre with The Yellow Bellows at 5.30pm.

Enniscorthy Community Allotments hosts Plants of the World from 6pm, while one of the town's major heritage events begins at the National 1798 Rebellion Centre at 6.30pm, exploring the battlefields and weapons of the 1798 Rebellion.

A clay-and-willow garden feature workshop also takes place at the centre from 7pm.

At Temple Shannon Community Centre, visitors can help create a Mandala of Light between 7pm and 10pm.

The Inis Córthaidh branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann will showcase traditional Irish music at Enniscorthy Rugby Club from 7.30pm.

Beyond Enniscorthy, Bunclody Library will screen the short film Where the Slaney Remembers at 4pm, while The Old Schoolhouse in Rathnure opens from 4pm until 9pm for an evening celebrating local artists, craftspeople and musicians.

New Ross

Music, drama, visual art and community participation are at the heart of the New Ross programme.

Cumas New Ross will bring its Trad Band and an art exhibition to The Shambles from 5pm until 9pm, showcasing music and creative work by people supported by the organisation.

New Ross Library then hosts a full evening of local performance.

The New Ross Singers begin at 6pm, followed by the Danescastle Music Group at 6.45pm, singer-songwriter Hugh Miller at 7.30pm and the New Ross Drama Workshop at 8.15pm.

Later in the evening, Drawing on the Blues at the Scouts Hall from 8.30pm will combine live blues music with social sketching and art-making.

In Saltmills, a community Culture Night celebration at Colclough Memorial Hall runs from 6pm until 10pm.

Rosslare and South Wexford

In Rosslare Strand, Filling the Well 2026 runs from 6pm until 9pm, bringing together music, storytelling, heritage and community performances, including activity around St Brioc's Well and the Coast Rosslare Strand Hotel.

At Johnstown Castle, The Stone Sessions runs from 8.30pm until 10.30pm, combining live music and local heritage in the castle's visitor centre.

Visitors to Hook Lighthouse can take a free guided Culture Night tour at 5pm, offering the opportunity to explore one of Ireland's most recognisable heritage landmarks.

In Fethard-on-Sea, St Mary's Hall hosts Wildlife Masks & Irish Myths from 4pm until 7pm, combining mask-making, Irish wildlife, mythology and Gaeilge.

Later, The Helen Blake: An Evening of Song & Story at St Mogue's runs from 5.30pm until 9.30pm, telling the story of the Fethard lifeboat disaster through local history, song and storytelling.

At Sigginstown Castle, visitors can also take part in a Mummers Hat workshop from 7pm until 9pm.

Free culture across the county

Culture Night is an annual all-island celebration designed to make arts, heritage and culture accessible to everyone, with events offered free of charge.

This year's Wexford programme stretches from large venues such as the National Opera House to libraries, churches, community centres, galleries, historic sites and small rural venues.

Anyone planning to attend is advised to check the individual event details before travelling, as some workshops and performances require advance booking and capacity may be limited.

Culture Night 2026 takes place across County Wexford from 4pm until late tonight, Friday, September 18 

Explore the full programme here:

https://culturenight.ie/country/wexford//