- St Patrick’s Day Celebrations (around 17 March, county-wide including Downpatrick and Newcastle): Events honouring Ireland’s patron saint, with special focus in Downpatrick where Saint Patrick is believed buried, featuring parades, music, and community activities.
- Sea Bangor Festival (May, Bangor): A celebration of maritime heritage with family activities, entertainment, food stalls, and live music along the seafront.
- Comber Earlies Food Festival (June, Comber): An event showcasing locally grown Comber Early potatoes with chef demonstrations, artisan markets, live music, and family entertainment.
- Fiddler’s Green Festival (July, Rostrevor): A week-long gathering of traditional music, arts, crafts, and culture set against the Mourne Mountains, with performances and street events.
- Open House Festival (August, Bangor): A month-long arts and music festival with concerts, workshops, performances in unique venues, and the Seaside Revival vintage event.
- Eats and Beats Festival (September, Newcastle): A weekend of live music across genres and street food offerings in the seaside town at the foot of the Mourne Mountains.
- County Down features annual festivals centred on music, food, maritime traditions, and heritage in towns like Bangor, Newcastle, Rostrevor, and Downpatrick; many recur yearly with 2026 dates and programmes to be confirmed closer to the time.
Festivals
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
Down:
Introduction – 1837 – Adventure – Anthem – Archaeology – Attractions – Awards – Birdwatching – Castles – Churches – Contact list – Cycling – Dining – Equestrian – Festivals – Fishing – Folklore – Golf – Graveyards – Happening – Haunted – Highest – Hiking – History – Holy Wells –Hotels – Hotels8 – Instagrammable – Itineraries – Largest town – Luxury – MICE – Movies – Musicians – Name – Novelists – Off the beaten track – Poets – Pubs – Quotes – Random Facts – Restaurant Awards – Saints – Spas – Sports – Sunsets – Sustainable – Things to do – Towns – Video – Villages – Walking – Wanderlist – Weddings – Wild swimming – Writers
Related posts:
FOOTSTEPPING – Saint Ciara of Tipperary: Places associated with the saint and her feast day (January 5)
‘In the BUSH that I love best’ – St Stephen’s day in Ireland and the wren boys
‘Belief in Santa Claus seems to be dying out’ – a letter from the children of Ireland of 1938
A solstice tale: How Newgrange became a rocks star (ahem) of archaeology
