Night and Day Festival 2026: Lineup, Tickets, Dates & Location

There’s something quietly magnetic about a festival that chooses a forest park over a giant field, and the Night and Day Festival 2026 leans hard into that woodland charm. Set on the shores of Lough Key in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, this three-day independent event runs from 29 to 31 May 2026 with a lineup that mixes Irish legends like The Saw Doctors with rising alternative acts.

Location: Lough Key Forest Park, Boyle, Co. Roscommon ·
Dates: 29–31 May 2026 ·
Headliners: The Saw Doctors, Hothouse Flowers ·
Ticket Price: From €175 (weekend adult camping)

Five key facts at a glance — the essential details every potential attendee needs before booking.

Where is the Night and Day Festival?

What is the exact venue?

• The festival takes place at Lough Key Forest Park in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland (Night And Day Festival).
• The park spans parkland with trees, follies, bridges, canals, walks, trails, a bog garden, and native woodlands (official site).
• The setting sits on the banks of Lough Key, and the festival celebrates the Summer Solstice there (official site).

How to get to Lough Key Forest Park

• By car: take the M4/N4 to Boyle, then follow signed routes to Lough Key. For the best rates on nearby stays, see our Last Minute Holiday Deals Ireland: Best 2026 Offers.
• By train: Boyle railway station on the Dublin–Sligo line is the nearest rail link.
• By bus: Bus Éireann operates services to Boyle from multiple cities.
• Local tourism listings confirm the address and access routes (Discover Boyle / Úna Bhán Tourism).

The implication: Lough Key isn’t just a venue—it’s the main draw, and the festival’s identity is inseparable from its woodland setting.

Which festival is coming in 2026?

What dates does Night and Day Festival 2026 take place?

• Night and Day Festival 2026 is scheduled for 29 to 31 May 2026 (Songkick).
• It is a three-day music festival presented as an independent, artist-driven event (official site).
• Discover Ireland lists it as a key 2026 event in County Roscommon (Discover Ireland (government tourism board)).

What other festivals are happening in Ireland in 2026?

• Forest Fest (also at Lough Key, typically in August) draws larger crowds with a more commercial lineup.
• Forbidden Forest Festival, Electric Picnic, and Oxegen are among Ireland’s major summer events, though none share Night and Day’s intimate woodland character.
• The festival bills itself as “a magical, musical medley of performance, art and interaction” (official site).

Four Irish festivals, one clear distinction: Night and Day is the only one that wraps its entire identity around a forest-park setting with a solstice connection.

The pattern: Night and Day intentionally limits its scale to preserve the intimate experience that larger festivals lose.

Who is performing at the Night and Day Festival 2026?

What are the headliners?

• The Saw Doctors headline the 2026 edition, as confirmed by both the official lineup page and local press (Night And Day Festival lineup; Roscommon Herald).
• Other major acts include Imelda May, The Boomtown Rats, Hothouse Flowers, KILA, Soda Blonde, Richard Thompson, and Paddy Casey (Night And Day Festival lineup).
• Discover Ireland also lists Cardinals and Jenny Greene among the billed performers (Discover Ireland).

Which artists are in the wider lineup?

• The Roscommon Herald reported an expanded roster including Thumper, M(h)aol, Sexy Tadhg, The Complete Stone Roses, George Houston, Cronin, Seamie O’Dowd, These Charming Men, BabyRat, The Dark Well, David Geraghty, Steve Howard, James Biggins, Bannered Mare, Deirdre Cunningham, Mayfield Sound, Banbha, and MacHenry and the Dog Roses (Roscommon Herald).
• The full and final lineup is available on the official festival website.

“A magical, musical medley of performance, art and interaction.”

— Night and Day Festival, official website

What this means: The lineup is a curated deep dive into Irish music rather than a broad international booking.

How much are tickets for the Night and Day Festival?

What are the ticket prices?

• Weekend adult camping tickets are priced at €175 (Roscommon Herald).
• Children’s tickets are €10 (Roscommon Herald).
• Weekend non-camping tickets and a limited number of day tickets are expected to be released in the weeks following the initial announcement (Roscommon Herald).
• Early bird pricing was available during the initial sale phase (official site).

Where can I purchase tickets?

• Tickets are available via the official festival website at nightandday.ie (official site).
• No third-party reseller has been officially authorised — buy only from the source to avoid scams.

The catch: Early buyers secure the best value, while later buyers face uncertainty around day-ticket pricing.

What are the top 10 festivals in Ireland?

What makes Night and Day Festival unique?

• Its intimate woodland setting at Lough Key Forest Park is unlike any major Irish festival — there is no second main stage competing for your attention.
• The festival is independently run and artist-driven, which means less corporate branding and more focus on the experience (official site).
• It blends live music with art installations and nature-based activities, including musical workshops, nature foraging, and games for younger attendees (Discover Ireland).
• The festival is described as “a unique weekend blending live music, art, and family fun” (Transport for Ireland).

How does it compare to other Irish festivals?

• Electric Picnic is the country’s largest multi-genre event, drawing over 50,000 attendees, but has a more commercial feel and higher ticket prices.
• Oxegen (occasionally revived) focuses on mainstream rock and pop at a larger scale.
• Forest Fest shares the Lough Key venue but books bigger international acts in August.
• Forbidden Forest leans electronic and is still establishing its identity.

“A unique weekend blending live music, art, and family fun.”

— Transport for Ireland, event listing

Here is how the numbers stack up across the major options.

The verdict: For families and independent music fans, Night and Day offers the strongest value proposition in the 2026 Irish festival calendar.

Night and Day Festival 2026 timeline

• Late 2025: Early bird tickets announced and put on sale (official site).
• Early 2026: Full lineup revealed on official website and social media (Roscommon Herald).
• 29–31 May 2026: Night and Day Festival takes place at Lough Key Forest Park.
• Post-event: Likely return of Forest Fest at the same venue in August 2026.

Clarity check: what’s confirmed and what’s not

Confirmed facts

• Venue: Lough Key Forest Park, Boyle, Co. Roscommon (official site).
• Dates: 29–31 May 2026 (Songkick).
• Headliners: The Saw Doctors, Imelda May, The Boomtown Rats, Hothouse Flowers (Night And Day Festival lineup).
• Weekend adult camping ticket: €175 (Roscommon Herald).
• Children’s ticket: €10 (Roscommon Herald).
• Age policy: over 20s; under 14s with a parent or guardian (Discover Ireland).
• Festival is independent and artist-driven (official site).
• Activities for children: musical workshops, nature foraging, games (Discover Ireland).

What’s unclear

• Exact standard-tier ticket prices for non-camping and day tickets (not yet published).
• Full daily schedule and stage times.
• Whether Ed Sheeran will perform in Ireland in 2026 (unsubstantiated rumour).
• Parking capacity and whether advance booking is required.

What attendees need to know: quotes from the organisers

“A magical, musical medley of performance, art and interaction.”

— Night and Day Festival, official website

“A unique weekend blending live music, art, and family fun.”

— Transport for Ireland, event listing

The festival’s own language emphasises integration — music, art, and nature are not separate zones but intertwined elements. Transport for Ireland’s framing adds a practical layer: getting there is part of the experience, and the organisers want it to feel seamless.

The takeaway for festival-goers

Night and Day Festival 2026 is not trying to compete with Electric Picnic or Oxegen on scale. Its advantage is the opposite: a contained, woodland setting where the lineup is strong enough to draw national headliners but intimate enough that you can actually see them. The confirmed pricing — €175 for a weekend camping pass, €10 for children — puts it in striking distance of being the best-value independent festival in Ireland this year. The catch is the ticking clock: day tickets and non-camping passes haven’t been priced yet, and once they are, the early-window advantage disappears.

For Irish festival-goers weighing their summer options: if you want a weekend where the music, the forest, and the solstice all pull in the same direction, book the camping ticket now. Waiting for the day-ticket price could save you a few euro — or cost you the chance to go at all.

Frequently asked questions