Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026 (2nd Aug - 9th Aug) - The Afterglow?! 🎊🍀🎵🎉
Published on HivePostify by @urielkinnear · Thu Sep 03 2026
I decided to wait a few weeks after the event to let the dust settle and any stories I'd missed work their way out in social media to be 100% accurate, plus anything new or interesting that spawned post event 😇
Follow up to the initial Fleadh post, [link](https://peakd.com/hive-108929/@urielkinnear/something-big-has-come-to-belfast-fleadh-cheoil-na-heireann-2026-day-one-2nd-aug-2026)
https://youtu.be/c0Erg9rFCM
So What's The Overall Consensus? - First things first there's no point beating around the bush, might as well come out and say it in some large bold type, > The FLEADH Was Amazing & A Resounding Success! 🎊🍀🎵🎉
I'm not actually sure if resounding success actually cuts the mustard in terms of descriptors, many that I know were actually in shock at how the week long event played out, a good type of shocked!
[Image Source](https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2026/0809/1587163-fleadh-belfast/)
Being Belfast native and understanding the current state of the City, transport, inner City Centre environment, policing status and many other perspectives there were 101 concerns from many Belfast locals about how the City was remotely going to cope with this event, and it's somewhat mickey mouse face value organization. This perspective was justified and held by many who were looking at the prophesied footfall and failing to connect the dots.
> I'm very glad to say I was wrong and also not too proud to consume some humble pie on the subject lol. Belfast held it's own, it accommodated all, and it made a small fortune in the process.
Most of the mainstream News outlets quoted 1.65 Million in footfall brought into the City Centre, I'm guessing they based that of the back of ticket sales or something similar, still that is some number, to provide context it's a bit like being a local at Glastonbury when the music festival is on, hordes of people literally everywhere, the streets crawling with tourists and locals alike in a manner never before seen, and the best bit for Belfast City Council lots of those people were spending money hand over fist!
The Atmosphere - It has genuinely been described as one of the best events Belfast has ever hosted. With the Cathedral Quarter and some surrounding areas pedestrianized it created a massive outdoor party feel.
Everywhere you went there was performers, buskers, pop-up bars, importantly for Belfast a genuine cross-community event. There were some very low grumblings about a burger van and an inappropriate song but apart from that no news surfaced on the grapevine, astounding considering the headcount involved in this week long event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTYa3DsVdY
Political Muted Drama - The expected political grumbling from certain parties in Stormont and further afield really fell flat on it's face as the festival proved a big hit with both sides of the Community, people from all backgrounds enjoying the music without any needless and pointless friction.
When you have reached the point where even 'Da' (Tim McGarry) from the Hole in The Wall Gang is stopped by a passer by for some sound bites and he has nothing but praise for the event you are doing something right.
https://youtube.com/shorts/tUzqFYHUdFk?si=6pe3iWNdkYqTf0C
Musical Diversity on offer? - One thing that took many by surprise was the access to and the vast diversity of music and dance talent on display. Advertising for this event locally had really not been done very well at all so much of the local support did not know what to expect.
> The City Centre took on a life of it's own!
Every street corner had some sort of popup group playing instruments, dancing, bands, even if it was bits of kids they were talented, and worth a listen, with footfall everywhere to stop and show some appreciation. Having compared notes with many this approach to the Fleadh seems to have been the most popular, simply wandering around, having a drink here and there and seeing what was happening..
The Cons - Okay so no event is perfect, there is always the odd issue to try and work around, surprise surprise the no.1 complaint was Translink. Even with the predicted footfall and the tickets sold in advance they still decided like every other time a major event is on not to mobilize or put on a suitable number of additional services. This obviously left tourists standing at bus stops pondering how to get from A to B, and many locals who wanted to travel in from surrounding towns and cities crammed onto Trains with not enough carriages available for the increased footfall. > The price of a pint also became a serious discussion point at times depending on where it was being purchased!
The Aftermath - Ha ha, this makes the Fleadh sound bad in some way, it really wasn't, I've not seen Belfast with that much life about it in many many years. 😇 - One of the most interesting things to come out of the Fleadh from talking to others is that we weren't prepared for the event and didn't have enough scope to enjoy it. - The Fleadh is already booked to run in Belfast in 2027 and I know of many that will be working holidays around the event next year so that they can avail of all that it has to offer for the entire week!
--- Again some Helpful Information Sources for reference:
https://fleadhcheoil.ie/ https://belfastfleadh.com/ https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/Things-to-Do/Fleadh-Belfast-2026
Tags: #hive#ni#news#music#festival#belfast#fleadh#neoxian#vyb#teamuk