2026 Culture Night in Laois takes place on Friday 18 September

Evening of creativity, curiosity, and shared experience in store for Laois

Across Laois, Culture Night 2026 will bring towns, villages, and communities together for an evening of creativity, curiosity, and shared experience. Taking place on Friday 18 September 2026, this much-loved national celebration will see artists, cultural groups, libraries, venues, and local organisations present a lively programme of free events, inviting people of all ages to explore the arts after hours and experience the county’s cultural life in fresh and unexpected ways.

From Abbeyleix to Ballylinan, Castletown to Clonad, Donaghmore to Emo, Mountmellick, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Rosenallis and Stradbally, Culture Night 2026 in Laois will offer a wonderful tapestry of experiences for audiences of all ages. Music, dance, film, theatre, visual art, spoken word, craft, heritage, and community celebration will be to the fore, reflecting the creativity and generosity of spirit that make Culture Night such a treasured moment in the cultural calendar.

In Abbeyleix Library, visitors can experience Undercurrent, an exhibition by NCAD artists Gillian Adams and Sally-Anne Cahill exploring historical garments, textiles, acrylic paint and the relationship between clothing, freedom, and the natural world. In Ballylinan, St Anne’s Hall will host a warm community celebration with the Eva Pannett School of Irish Dancing, local singers and musicians, while Castletown will once again come alive with light, music and story as Castletown Tidy Towns illuminate the Slí Shibhéal Walkway and present an evening of local performances.

Dance will add another vivid layer to this year’s programme. At Castletown Community Centre, Bubblelock presents The One, a contemporary dance performance bringing together young dancers from the Laois Youth Dance Ensemble with professional performers in a work that explores memory, belief, and the human need for hope. At Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise-based Kathak artist Moumita Pal will present Across the Sea, an interdisciplinary performance inspired by W.B. Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore, with original music by Sagnik Chakraborty.

Film, language and heritage will also be strongly represented. Clonad GAA / CLG Chluain Fhada will host a special Irish-language evening around the drama Fidil Ghorm, complete with refreshments, traditional music, and conversation. In Donaghmore, the historic Corn Mill and Kiln will provide an atmospheric setting for The Caochaleleles and an introduction to I.V.E.T.A.’s ongoing work to restore this remarkable heritage site and develop its future as a museum.

Music lovers will be spoiled for choice. OPW partners Emo Court will welcome Laois pianist David Vesey and flautist Martina Rosaria O’Connell for an evening of classical music in one of the county’s most beautiful historic settings. Mountmellick Library will host Mountmellick Comhaltas for an hour of traditional Irish music, while Rosenallis will welcome folk singer Emer Dunne, with Derek Dunne and Aidan Connolly, for a special concert of song, story, and familiar favourites in St Brigid’s Church of Ireland.

Portarlington will once again highlight the energy of its creative community, with Crafty Dreams Studio offering a spinning demonstration in the Market House and Port Arts Collective leading a Culture Night Crawl through Market Square, Parochial Hall, Market House, and Seán’s Gallery. Visitors can expect art, craft, busking, music, dance, history, comedy, and a lively celebration of local talent throughout the evening.

Portlaoise will be a major hub of activity, with Music Generation Laois presenting a Youth Open Mic in the newly developed youth space at the People’s Park, Borrislittle, and a Men’s Shed Ukulele Session taking place at Connect Café in the Compass Community Hub. At St Fintan’s Campus, Laois and Offaly Community Rehabilitation and Recovery Mental Health Services will host an inclusive celebration of music, dance, poetry, and visual art, inspired by connection and community participation.

Dunamaise Arts Centre will open its doors for an evening of film, theatre, musical theatre, dance and spoken word, including a screening celebrating Ukrainian musician Taras Kompanichenko, a behind-the-scenes staged situational play with John Doheny and Kevin Lalor Fitzpatrick, the Portlaoise Musical Society launch of Young Frankenstein, Moumita Pal’s Across the Sea, and a playful Culture Night social arts experience with Felispeaks and Big Kids Klub. Portlaoise Library will also welcome Drawing Room Opera Company for an enchanting evening of Irish song, musical theatre, and operatic classics.

The visual arts will be richly represented in Stradbally, where Laois Arthouse Gallery and Studios will host the opening of Clodhoppers, an exhibition of recent work by artist Niamh Coffey, alongside open studios with resident artists. Clodhoppers explores imagined ecological relationships, Irish folklore, myth, queer theory and the wider natural world through textiles, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and mixed media.

This year promises to be one of the biggest and brightest Culture Night offerings in Laois to date. With events taking place in libraries, arts centres, community halls, galleries, historic buildings, churches, outdoor spaces and town centres, audiences are invited to come together, try something new, meet local artists and neighbours, and enjoy the extraordinary cultural life of Laois in all its diverse forms. Laois County Council and Laois Arts Office wish to acknowledge the wealth of artistic talent and community effort that makes Culture Night Laois possible and to acknowledge our Creative Producer Marina Rafter in bringing together such a vibrant programme of events.

Culture Night is brought to you by the Arts Council in partnership with Laois County Council, led by Laois Arts Office with partners Laois Library Service and Dunamaise Arts Centre. Funding support from Creative Ireland Laois and Culture 2026. Cuireann an Chomhairle Ealaíon Oíche Chultúir i láthair, i gcomhpháirt le Comhairle Chontae Laoise, le tacaíocht ó Éire Ildánach Laois. It is a national moment celebrating culture, creativity, and the arts, delivered nationwide in cities, towns, villages, and rural locations.

For more information: Visit culturenight.ie/Laois or laois.ie/culture-night. Culture Night Laois contact: Laois Arts Office, Áras an Chontae, Portlaoise, County Laois. Tel: 057 866 4033 Email: arts@laoiscoco.ie or Robyn Keleghan Communications Officer Laois County Council 057 866 4196.