What's On in Down

SkiffieFest turns the lough shore at Delamont Country Park into the home of coastal rowing for a weekend. At its heart is a two-day St Ayles skiff regatta, with crews from across Northern Ireland — plus international competitors — racing over a 2k course on Strangford Lough. The event is organised by the Down Coastal Rowing Association, and the sight of the wooden skiffs pulling across the water is reason enough to come.

You don’t need to row to enjoy it. Around the racing there are locally produced food and drink vendors, live music and a programme of other land- and water-based events along the shore, making it an easy family day out on the western side of the lough.

Entry to the festival itself is free, though the usual car-park charge applies at Delamont Country Park, and a shuttle runs visitors from the car park down to the lough shore. Killyleagh, with its fairytale castle, is just up the road.

For the whole of August, Bangor gives itself over to Northern Ireland’s only month-long festival: more than sixty events spanning music, comedy, film, theatre, food and drink, talks, tours and crafts, with at least one happening every day of the month.

The 2026 line-up includes Lisa Hannigan, The Staves, The Tallest Man on Earth, Luka Bloom and The Henry Girls, with comedy from Deirdre O’Kane and Neil Delamere. The two focal venues are worth the trip in themselves — the festival stage under a stretch-tent canopy in the Bangor Castle Walled Garden, and the Court House on the seafront, a Victorian listed building the festival has repurposed into a thriving music venue.

Headline shows are ticketed and popular, so book ahead through the festival website, but the Picnic in the Park series in Ward Park is free every Sunday afternoon. Open House is a non-profit charity, and any surplus is reinvested in the arts programme that is helping regenerate this seaside city.

Wake the Giant is built around the ancient myth of the sleeping giant in the Cooley Mountains across Carlingford Lough, and it fills Warrenpoint with the legend of Fionn mac Cumhaill for a summer weekend. New for 2026 is the Giant’s Trail — a walkable, story-led adventure that threads giant-themed installations and interactive experiences through the town — alongside live music, outdoor activities and a food village centred on Warrenpoint Municipal Park.

The festival runs from 10am to 6.30pm both days and is free to attend, though selected activities, including the Green Craft workshops and sensory sessions, must be booked in advance. Thoughtfully, the first stretch of each morning (10am–12.30pm) is kept gentler — no loud music, fewer crowds — for visitors with sensory or access needs.

Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Street parking is available around the town, and Newry’s train and bus connections make it straightforward to reach without a car.

Billing itself as “Newry’s festival for all”, Iúr Cinn Fleadh is an annual celebration of Irish culture and community that takes over the city for five days around the late-August bank holiday. The city is awash with trad and folk sounds — concerts in venues like the Italian-style Riverside Church, a pub session trail, and events spilling out across the streets.

One of its more unusual fixtures is the Trad Cruise, a music session afloat that has become a festival favourite; it is ticketed and books up, so reserve early through the festival’s channels. The festival has picked up a civic award from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, and its mix of big names and local players gives it a genuine community feel.

Most events are completely free, and venues across the city are within easy walking distance of Newry bus station, which has regular connections to Belfast and Dublin.

Set against the backdrop of the Mourne Mountains, Eats & Beats brings two days of food and music to the seaside town of Newcastle. Two stages run across the weekend — the Homegrown Stage spotlighting talented local musicians, and the World Music Stage celebrating global rhythms and sounds — so there is always something playing while you eat.

The food side leans hard on the region: fresh seafood from the shores of Carlingford Lough, mountain-inspired dishes, and an artisan market of locally crafted cheeses, baked goods and gourmet street food. Live cookery demonstrations let you watch chefs at work and pick up the ideas behind their dishes.

The festival is organised by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council as part of its Giant Adventures series, and 2026 is a ticketed event — tickets are on sale now through the official festival page, and early September is a lovely time to combine it with a walk in the Mournes.

Portavogie, on the Ards Peninsula, is one of Northern Ireland’s working fishing harbours, and Tide and Turf is its afternoon in the spotlight: a free, family-friendly food festival held right at the harbour, celebrating what comes in off the boats and what is raised on the farmland around it — with a particular focus on seafood and beef.

Expect a showcase of local food and drink from producers around the peninsula, along with cookery demonstrations as part of the borough’s wider Taste Autumn programme celebrating the harvest season. The 2026 line-up of stalls and chefs will be published closer to the day.

The festival runs from noon to 5pm on the Saturday. The harbour setting means everything is compact and walkable, and it makes an easy stop on a day spent exploring the Ards Peninsula and the Strangford Lough shore.

Aspects is an annual celebration of reading and writing that has been running in Bangor for 35 years, making it Northern Ireland’s longest-running literature festival. Across twelve days the programme takes in poetry, nature writing, book launches, creative-writing workshops, art exhibitions, live music, storytelling and in-conversation evenings with acclaimed authors.

A highlight already confirmed for 2026: the Southbank Centre’s 75th-anniversary tour, A Poet In Every Port, brings the mobile National Poetry Library to Bangor during the festival — a travelling treasure trove for poetry lovers.

The full programme is unveiled on 6 August, when tickets also go on sale through the festival website. If you prefer, you can book in person or by phone through the borough’s Visitor Information Centres, which charge no booking fees. Coming on the heels of August’s Open House Festival, it rounds off a busy cultural summer in Bangor — a pleasant time to catch the seafront before winter.

The Festival of Racing is the high point of the year at Down Royal, Northern Ireland’s premier racecourse, drawing top runners and riders from the UK, Ireland and beyond for two days of jump racing with a prize fund of more than €425,000. Friday’s card is headlined by a Grade 3 hurdle, while Saturday brings the big one — the Grade 1 Champion Chase — alongside Ladies Day, which adds a good dose of style and occasion to the sport.

There is complimentary entertainment on both days, and the Halloween-weekend timing gives the festival a distinctive end-of-season buzz. Gates open at 11am each day, and tickets for each day are booked through the Down Royal website.

If you are visiting over Christmas instead, Down Royal also races on Boxing Day (26 December) — a well-loved fixture in its own right and a fine excuse for a festive day out.

This festive season Hillsborough Castle hands its 100-acre gardens over to The Gruffalo’s Child: a daytime trail hides favourite scenes from the much-loved story along a winter walk, with interactive games along the way and screenings of the short film in the Stable Yard on weekends and daily through the school holidays. Under-5s do the trail free, and the trail itself is included in ordinary admission tickets, so no pre-booking is needed.

On select days before Christmas, children can meet Santa in his Hillsborough hideaway (£8 per family, pre-booked), and from 27 December to 3 January the Gruffalo himself takes over for meet-and-greets (£6 per family). You can also upgrade to visit the royal castle itself, decorated with seasonal sparkle, including the famous Throne Room.

The event runs in line with garden opening hours and is closed 24–26 December. Hot chocolate and mince pies in the café complete the formula for a proper winter family day out.