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Ballina Fringe Festival

@ballinafringefestival

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A festival of visual arts, music, word and community in North Mayo, happening 2nd to 11th October 2026

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We want to say a proper thank you to @icehousemayo.

The Ice House was our headline sponsor for the festival's first eight years. That support got Ballina Fringe off the ground and kept it going, and it's a big part of why the festival was able to stand on its own feet this year.

Pearse Farrell and Bernie Keogh have always backed the festival, the arts and championed Ballina and North Mayo. We're delighted they're still with us as sponsors, and we've leaned on their advice many times over the years.

Next year is our 10th festival and we wouldn't be here without them. Thank you Pearse, Bernie and all the team. by @ballinafringefestival

Ballina Fringe Festival 2026, in 30 seconds.

16 events over ten days . Thank you to every artist, partner, funder, volunteer and audience member who made it happen. Full thank-you on our grid.

See you in 2027 for our 10th!

📸 @shutterfeverphoto by @ballinafringefestival

16 events. Ten days. One town full of fabulous arts - that was Ballina Fringe Festival 2026.

From Shiro Masuyama's Borderline caravan to Days of Gold & The Boys of '91 bringing the house down on closing night, this year's theme of RESILIENCE was evident across our venues and events throughout the festival.

Huge thank you to our artists and performers: @ozingerm, @fionajwilde, Louise Wilde, @nualaclarke.artist @funny_livdotter, @idrawslow, @forfolkssakeband, @deathmilkshake, @dopplerireland, @neiltullywriter, @fifinolala, @ballinapunx, @niamh.mcgrath.37, @anula_productions, @ballinabravesbasketball legends and every young artist at @westworksfestival

Thanks too to our partners and venues: @thencf_cultural_coop, @ballinaartscentre, Ballina Library, Ballina Civic Office, St Michael's Church, the Methodist Church, St Dymphna's School, Ballina Cine Club, @ballinapunx @moyvalleyresourcesird and @volunteer_mayo

We couldn't make the fun happen without our funders and sponsors: @artscouncilireland, @mayo.ie, @mayoartsservice, @failte_ireland, @creativeireland, @creativecommunities, @dept_justice_ireland, @deptcde and @icehousemayo

And without you, our audiences - 1500 audience, participants volunteers and crew. You are what makes the festival magic!

See you in 2027 for our 10th.

📸 @shutterfeverphoto by @ballinafringefestival

West Works 2026 - it was amazing!

Our first-ever youth festival, made by young people for young people, took over @ballinaartscentre and the buzz was electric. Live bands, DJ sets, open mic, zines, street art, a swap shop… and SO much talent.

A massive thank you to our Youth Fringe Lab, who dreamed it up, programmed it and pulled it off. You set the bar high and we couldn't be prouder. And to every young performer who got up on that stage and everyone who came along: thank you.

West Works was supported by @artscouncilireland and @creativecommunities, with @mayo.ie and @creativeireland.

🎥 @banshees_diary
📸 @shutterfeverphoto

#WestWorks #BallinaFringe #BallinaFringeFestival #YouthArts #Mayo by @ballinafringefestival

Take s look at what we did in Ballina on Friday.... Fizzabelle and I had a blast performing at @ballinafringefestival. Met some great folks down there and the show was lots of fun. Thanks so much to the organisers for having me, JF on sound and everyone who came and boogied and especially those who went home with a CD or a tshirt (you legends paid for the lighting woo hoo!!!)

I have to say a massive thank you too to the couple who travelled all the way from county Limerick for the show, simply because they can't make either of the EP launch shows in Dublin and Galway in November. Im honoured that people would jump in the car for a 6 hour round trip and pay for a hotel in mayo just to see me perform these tunes. I'm certainly no superstar, just an ordinary guy working very hard to make music that i hope will connect with people, so that means more to me than a million streams. Thank you to those guys if they happen to read this.

@dopplerireland played as a 2 piece on the night too and were fantastic, unbelievably skilled musicians.

Thanks also to my buddy @marek_makes_art
Who not only put in a huge shift with me setting up and tearing down the show but slowly shot and edited this video for me.

2 more Death Milkshake shows to go this year and they're the big ones in dublin and Galway. Will you be there? by @ballinafringefestival

The weekend is go! Last couple of days of our favourite little festival here in Ballina ! Ticket links in our bio ! @dopplerireland @deathmilkshake @ballinaartscentre @idrawslow @forfolkssakeband #ballinafringefestival by @ballinafringefestival

Tomorrow's Smartphone Film Festival finishes up with a wild and eclectic selection of animated shorts curated by the ever fabulous Dodgy Lady.

Smartphone Film Festival takes place Sat 10 Oct 2pm @ TheNCF. Tickets €10 Eventbrite & on the door.

Buckle up for a ravishing audio-visual trip! We’re tracking indigenous Hokkaido songs through a surreal Finnish clue trail and the quiet loneliness of Swedish public spaces, stopping along the way for a drunk Estonian reinterpretation of Édouard Manet, French coming-of-age romantic tensions, existential dread, and uncanny blend of American vulnerability, intimacy, and weirdness. by @ballinafringefestival

Funny Livdotter, Swedish textile and visual artist, has been with Ballina Fringe Festival and TheNCF as artist in residence for the last 2 weeks.

Having made the epic journey from Sweden to Ballina, Funny has focused their time here on developing A Depiction of They, a series of textile sculptures exploring memento mori through the lens of LGBTQIA+ identity and collective resilience.

By transforming ”loved-to-death” garments and donated relics into physical archives of lived experience, Funny has used mortality as a tool for celebration rather than mourning.

Funny's residency comes to an end this Friday, and we close out with an Artist Talk, where Funny will talk through their work, their process, and about the Homografiska Museet (A queer museum in Sweden that they run). In this, Funny will discuss the importance of queer archives, how it operates and what opportunities that creates and keeps on giving.

Funny's work created during their residency will also be on display.

We'd love you all to join us for this residency wrap event - 8pm Friday 9 October upstairs at TheNCF. If you've never been, this is a great excuse to visit!

Admission free, all welcome.

Funny's residency has been supported by the LGBTIQ+ Community Services Fund 2026.

Thanks to @banshees_diary for this great video! by @ballinafringefestival

What a great first weekend we had for Ballina Fringe Festival's opener! Thanks to everyone who came out and had fun - the buzz was amazing... and to all who've attended workshops, screenings and more during the week.

We turn now to the festival wrap weekend - how did this happen so soon?!! As well as our exhibitions open throughout the festival, coming up:

Thurs
8pm - HEN @ Ballina Cine Club, Ballina Arts Centre

Fri
8pm - Artist talk & exhibition by Funny Livdotter, artist in residence, TheNCF
9pm - Doppler & Death Milkshake, TheNCF

Sat
10:30am-7pm WestWorks Youth Festival, Ballina Arts Centre
2pm - Smartphone Film Festival, TheNCF
8pm - I Draw Slow, support by All Folk'd Up, St Michael's Church

Sun
2pm - Global Kitchen, St Dympna's School
8pm - Days of Gold & The Boys of 91, Ballina Arts Centre.

As always, this festival couldn't happen without the incredible support of our funders & partners:
@artscouncilireland
@mayo.ie
@failte_ireland
@mayoartsservice
@creativeireland
@dept_justice_ireland
@deptcde
@icehousemayo
@thencf_cultural_coop
@moyvalleyresourcesird
@volunteer_mayo
@ballinaartscentre by @ballinafringefestival

This year we have a youth led festival - a one day festival within our programme - if you are between 14 and 18 years old - then come along to @ballinaartscentre on Saturday for workshops , open mic , swap shop , DJ decks to have a go on and of course the Westworks Show - featuring some amazing young acts from Ballina and surrounds ! Go follow @westworksfestival for updates ! @vallium_band @displaced24 @creativityandchange by @ballinafringefestival

Our wonderfully eclectic and kind soul Artist in residence @funny_livdotter is on fire @thencf_cultural_coop
Funny is a multidisciplinary artist from Western rural Sweden who is focusing on memory, textile art and an exploration of Ballina through textile for this residency Funny is with us for 2 weeks and tomorrow will do a 'memory salon' where everyone can bring some textile and come together to make a work based on the memory of others.

8 pm @thencf_cultural_coop by @ballinafringefestival