{"id":412798,"date":"2026-02-07T11:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T11:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/412798\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T11:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T11:06:07","slug":"one-of-the-worlds-biggest-music-festivals-is-coming-to-the-uk-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/412798\/","title":{"rendered":"One of The World\u2019s Biggest Music Festivals is Coming to the UK This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Get your flutes and fiddles out, start practicing your\u00a0sean n\u00f3s and lilting \u2013 the world\u2019s greatest festival of Irish music is being held in the UK this summer. And it\u2019s one of the things that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/uk\/things-to-do\/best-new-things-to-do-in-the-uk-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Time Out is most looking forward to in 2026<\/a>. Here\u2019s why.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">The Fleadh Cheoil na h\u00c9ireann (or the Fleadh, pronounced \u2018flah\u2019 for short) is the\u00a0biggest celebration of Irish music, song and dance on the planet. It was founded in 1951 by traditional musicians and proponents of Gaelic culture in 1951 and has grown to become one of the\u00a0largest music festivals in all of Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">In 2026, for the first time in the event\u2019s 75-year history, it\u2019s being held in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/belfast\/things-to-do\/best-things-to-do-in-belfast\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Belfast<\/a> (which happens to be Ireland\u2019s only UNESCO City of Music). This will be only the second time that\u00a0the festival been held in Northern Ireland, after Derry in 2013.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">A staggering 700,000 people are expected to descend on Belfast for the occasion, which will take place from August 2 to August 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">All sorts of events and activities are lined up for the huge knees-up, from pub\u00a0seisi\u00fans and marching bands to storytelling and ceili gatherings. There\u2019ll also be\u00a0over 150 competitions with around 5,000 participants from across the Emerald Isle showcasing traditional Irish performance arts. One organiser has described the event as \u2018the Olympics of culture and friendship\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">The festival\u2019s famous outdoor stage Gig Rig will be set up outside Belfast City Hall to host\u00a0free live traditional Irish music and entertainment from emerging talent throughout the week. While\u00a0the festival\u2019s full programme is still under wraps for now, we know that other venues will include\u00a0Ulster Hall, the Waterfront Hall and the ICC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">If you\u00a0want\u00a0to be in Belfast for the\u00a0Fleadh, let Time Out help you plan your itinerary with out guides to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/belfast\/restaurants\/the-13-best-restaurants-in-belfast\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the city\u2019s best restaurants<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/belfast\/things-to-do\/best-things-to-do-in-belfast\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best things to do<\/a> (when you\u2019re not\u00a0immersed in all that\u00a0live music, of course).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">Find out why\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/uk\/news\/this-industrial-midlands-city-has-a-booming-nightlife-scene-and-access-to-britains-most-spectacular-natural-landscapes-heres-why-its-one-of-britains-best-places-to-visit-in-2026-020626\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this Midlands city\u00a0is one of the UK\u2019s best places to visit in 2026<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">Plus:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/uk\/news\/one-of-northern-irelands-greatest-museums-is-getting-a-50-million-revamp-012726\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">One of Northern Ireland\u2019s greatest museums is getting a \u00a350 million revamp<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"_articleTitle_13nts_21 _h1_1myhj_1\" data-testid=\"article-title_testID\">Stay in the loop:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/uk\/newsletter?cid=uk~editorial~acquisition~newsletter~contentlink\" data-modified-href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/uk\/newsletter?cid=uk~editorial~acquisition~newsletter~contentlink\" data-modified- rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sign up to our\u00a0free Time Out UK newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get your flutes and fiddles out, start practicing your\u00a0sean n\u00f3s and lilting \u2013 the world\u2019s greatest festival of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1422,59,57,58,50,1423,1420,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-412798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-categories-things-to-do","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greatbritain","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-news-city-life","14":"tag-things-to-do","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}