Cavan Arts Festival returns from 19th – 22nd May with a four-day celebration of music, art, circus, theatre, literature, dance, food and – above all – each other. This year’s programme more than makes up for lost time with a line-up including Villagers, Iarla Ó Lionáird and Steve Cooney, Tumble Circus, Manchán Magan, Rogu, Gabhann Dunne, Blutack and the Greenhorns, Sarah McKenna Dunne, Fanzinis, and much more.

The festival is expanding to new venues, with Urney Church of Ireland, Farnham Street, hosting Iarla Ó Lionáird and Steve Cooney on Friday, 20th May at 8pm (Tickets €22.50, cavanartsfestival.ie). In what will be a highlight of this year’s festival and the entire summer – the critically-acclaimed, Ivor Novello winner and Mercury Prize-nominated Villagers perform at Town Hall Cavan on Sunday, 22nd May at 8pm (Tickets €32.50, cavanartsfestival.ie). With his full, eight-piece band including brass section, Conor O’Brien will weave his hypnotic spell on Cavan audiences with tracks from his latest album, ‘Fever Dreams’ and from his outstanding back catalogue.

On Sunday, 22nd May at 3pm in The Big Top, Con Smith Park (tickets €10, cavanartsfestival.ie), globe-trotting author, presenter and filmmaker Manchán Magan presents his new show ‘Arán agus Im’, a unique theatrical performance that celebrates the Irish language in an engaging, accessible bilingual way, through the medium of sourdough bread and home-churned butter!

As in previous years, the festival will be headquartered at the Big Top in Con Smith Park, Cavan town, with free, family-friendly events taking place at ‘Park Life’ on Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 6pm.
The full festival programme is available for download at www.cavanartsfestival.ie. You can also book tickets today at www.cavanartsfestival.ie