Détail de l’événement

Incorporated in 2026, the Forest City Irish Fest (FCIF) is a new nonprofit cultural festival dedicated to celebrating Irish music, culture, and community in London. Based in the historic Wortley Village neighbourhood, the inaugural festival is designed to transform the area into an authentic Irish village experience featuring traditional musicians, dancers, local vendors, and interactive cultural programming. The organization features members of the London Irish Folk Club, the Irish Benevolent Society, and the London Irish Canadian Cultural Society, who have hosted live music and social events over the past several years. They decided to come together to form the Forest City Irish Fest Arts Collective to harness all of their combined experience, skills and strengths to produce our biggest show yet, the Forest City Irish Fest. They worked successfully together last year on an ad hoc basis to host "Tis All Irish" the biggest St Patrick's celebration London has seen, so this new organization formalizes their relationship and teamwork efforts.

This application is for the "2026 Forest City Irish Fest", taking place September 18 and 19, 2026, in Wortley Village, London. Programming includes: (1) Opening night (September 18): a ticketed launch event at the Hyland Cinema featuring live performance by Canadian Folk Award-nominated Michael Darcy & the Atlantic Tramps, a reading and speech by internationally acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Emma Donoghue, and an Irish film screening; (2) Main festival day (September 19): a free outdoor festival on the Wortley Village Green featuring three stages with a staggered schedule of approximately 30 acts including music, singing, dancing, and storytelling, running from 10am to 6pm. Daytime programming also includes an open céilí (Irish community dance), hurling and Gaelic football demonstrations, a heritage area with Irish Civil War re-enactors, a Pop-up Gaeltacht (Irish language centre), a supervised children's play area, artisanal vendors, a snack tent, and a beer garden. Headline acts Michael Darcy and Paddyman close the main stage from 4 to 6pm; and (3) Evening programming (September 19): musicians performing across four Wortley Village pubs and restaurants from 6pm, followed by an afterparty at the German Canadian Club.