The Irish Festival of Oulu returns with its most ambitious programme, featuring large-scale street arts, spectacle performances, Irish music, storytelling, and cultural events as part of Oulu2026 and Culture Ireland’s EU Presidency Programme.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
OULU, FINLAND — The 19th edition of The Irish Festival of Oulu, the world’s northernmost Irish cultural festival, will take place from September 23–27, 2026. As an official programme of Culture Ireland’s Global European Union Presidency Cultural Programme and an official programme partner of Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture, the festival represents a major milestone in the international presentation of Irish culture.
A major new addition for 2026 is Cultural Kaleidoscopes, a two-day outdoor street festival transforming the heart of Oulu city centre into an intercultural celebration of music, dance, mythology, street theatre, and spectacle performance. Designed as a free and family-friendly public event, the programme brings together Irish and Finnish traditional music, folklore, storytelling, street theatre, dance, circus arts, and large-scale visual performance, creating shared cultural experiences for audiences of all ages.
Highlights of Cultural Kaleidoscopes include Tuatha Dé Danann by Gráinne Holland and Band, a theatrical performance combining Irish mythology, storytelling, and music. The programme will also feature street performances by The Belfast Wren Boys and Clanadonia, the acclaimed Scottish tribal pipes and drums group from Glasgow. Additional street performances include Irish traditional dance by inSpiral Dance Group Finland, drumming by Rumpuheimo Drum Tribe, an immersive rhythmic musical performance by Åula, circus and street performances by students of Oulu Art School, a fire performance by Tuluxxia, and award-winning and intimate Irish street theatre performances including Claudette by Alex Allison and Sara Martinez and Miss Mary by Kristyn Fontanella.
A longstanding cornerstone of the festival, storytelling will move into the heart of Cultural Kaleidoscopes this year. Renowned storytellers Eamonn Keenan, Maria Gillen, Niceol Blue, Órla McGovern, Eimear Burke and Mairín Mhic Lochlainn will be joined by local storytellers Anna-Kaisa Kettunen, Osmo Hakosalo and Brent Ó Caiside in performances rooted in Ireland’s and Finland’s ancient oral traditions.
The grand finale of Cultural Kaleidoscopes will be Pegasus by the internationally acclaimed French company Planète Vapeur. Marking its first appearance in Finland and the Nordic region, Pegasus is a large-scale spectacle performance centred around an illuminated 18-ton (11 m × 7 m × 3 m) winged horse accompanied by an opera singer, musicians, acrobats, fire artists, stilt walkers, and street performers in a poetic procession inspired by mythology and the stars.
Pegasus Oulu2026 film: https://youtu.be/CDjVC_aftNk
Festival Artistic Director and curator of Cultural Kaleidoscopes, Brent Cassidy, states: “Cultural Kaleidoscopes began as a dream and grew into a bold cultural vision rooted in a simple belief: that culture belongs to everyone. By bringing music, storytelling, dance, street theatre and the grande spectacle of Pegasus into the heart of Oulu city centre, we hope to create shared experiences filled with imagination, colour, wonder and human connection. At its heart, the event is about transforming everyday spaces into places where lifelong memories can be made.”
The 2026 festival programme will also feature a broad multidisciplinary programme of Irish traditional music, storytelling, dance, street arts, folklore, Irish language, and spectacle performance.
Festival audiences will experience performances by the world-renowned Irish trad band Altan, sean nós sister duo An Chéad Ghlúin Eile featuring Étáin and Máire Ní Churraoin, and Belfast artists Tempest and Gráinne Holland and Band.
The programme also includes film screenings, discussions, and performances by local Irish musicians and storytellers. Local groups The Soap Pig and Yläsiirtola Ramblers will perform alongside The Shire (Italy). Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Antti Järvelä, of the renowned Järvelä musical family of Kaustinen, will present Finnish traditional music as part of the festival’s Nordic Night events organised in collaboration with Village Anthems Oulu2026 community folk music project.
Irish traditional music remains central to the festival’s identity, with daily sessions and workshops offering audiences and musicians an authentic experience of Ireland’s living musical traditions.
Recognised internationally for its authentic and inclusive approach to Irish culture, The Irish Festival of Oulu has grown into the leading Irish cultural festival in the Nordic region. Since its founding in 2006, the festival has welcomed more than 100,000 participants while building a reputation for combining internationally acclaimed Irish artists with strong community participation and intercultural exchange.
The 2026 festival is expected to attract visitors from Finland and abroad through a versatile programme welcoming audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds to experience Irish and Finnish arts, music, storytelling, and community in the heart of Oulu.
For more information:
The Irish Festival of Oulu
Media Contact:
Brent Cassidy
Festival Director
The Irish Festival of Oulu
+358 50 380 1908
www.irkku.fi
