FOREST FEST | Emo Village, Co. Laois, Ireland | 24–26 July 2026

Founded as a celebration of live music and community, Forest Fest has quickly grown into a cultural highlight of the summer calendar. Voted 4th Best Festival in Ireland by Irish Times readers and twice named Best Festival at the Midlands Hospitality Awards, it's known for delivering big-name performances in a small, soul-filled setting. Last year's edition saw attendance up 140% on the previous year, with 12,000 people attending and Manic Street Preachers, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, Orbital, The Stranglers, Billy Bragg and Peter Hook & The Light all delivering standout sets.

The festival takes place in the village of Emo, population 200. The whole village becomes the site. You can leave your tent and be at the main stage in minutes. The Gate House pub, Batoni's restaurant, the community fields — all of it folds into one festival. It is a genuinely unusual and warm thing, the kind of experience that's become harder and harder to find as festivals have grown.

For 2026, the festival has relocated to Bee's Wing Farm for the first time, a layout adjustment made to improve facilities, comfort and walkability after feedback from previous years.

The 2026 Lineup

Echo & The Bunnymen, James, and Madness headline, with Jesus Jones, David Kitt, Camille O'Sullivan, The Chameleons, Columbia Mills, Andrew Strong, Black Pistol Fire, Björn Again, and rising Irish acts including Dopamine, Byro, Cúr and Sadhbh Keane all joining the bill.

Three headliners, three completely different British musical traditions: Echo & The Bunnymen's rain-drenched Merseyside post-punk, James's communal anthems (Sit Down alone could fill a field), and Madness's ska-pop that has never not been an absolute party. For anyone who grew up listening to any of these three acts, the pull is significant.

The Chameleons are one of the great underrated bands of the post-punk era, dark, atmospheric, and criminally overlooked during their original run in the early 80s. This is the kind of booking that makes forest-fest devotees very happy. From the full sing-a-long anthems of The Fratellis, The Wonderstuff, The Charlatans and Deacon Blue, to the wonderfully moody classics of Echo and the Bunnymen, this represents Meagher's personal taste across the decades, and it shows.

Ones to Watch

Columbia Mills: One of Ireland's most genuinely underrated bands, with a vast, cinematic sound that deserves a much bigger audience. A festival stage feels like their natural home.

Sadhbh Keane: A quietly powerful voice drawing real attention on the Irish scene. One of several emerging Irish acts on the bill who represent the festival's commitment to new homegrown talent.

Cúr: A compelling name on the emerging Irish circuit, bringing energy and originality to the smaller stage.

David Kitt: The veteran Dublin singer-songwriter brings warmth, depth and a back catalogue worth sitting with.

Memorable Experiences

The Forest Fleadh stage is one of Forest Fest's most distinctive and beloved elements, a dedicated space for traditional Irish music that runs alongside the main programming, giving the festival a dimension most indie-rock boutique events don't bother with. It brings the whole community in. There's also a kids' field with circus acts, street theatre and workshops, making this one of the more genuinely family-friendly festivals on the Irish calendar, not as an afterthought, but as something central to the vision.

The walkability is a genuine pleasure. At bigger Irish festivals you can spend half your day in transit. Here, everything is a short stroll. The food and craft beer options from local producers round it out, Wicklow Wolf and Ballykilcavan Brewing Co. keep the beer side of things very well sorted.