What's On in Fermanagh

Enniskillen is Ireland’s only island town, and this festival puts its watery setting front and centre. Hosted by Blue Green Yonder, the community boating organisation based on Castle Island, Paddle and Planks celebrates the water, community and traditional boating on Lough Erne for a single summer Saturday.

The centrepiece is racing in traditional cots — the flat-bottomed wooden boats long used on the Erne — with men’s, women’s and mixed four-person crews going head to head. Around the racing there is a gathering of watercraft of every kind, from rafts and coracles to kayaks and paddleboards, and a chance to learn about Blue Green Yonder’s community projects and activities on the lough.

The island café stays open throughout the day and there’s a barbecue on site, so it’s an easy event to settle into rather than just pass through. A good pick for families and anyone curious about the Erne’s boating traditions.

For one Saturday at the start of August, the grounds of Enniskillen Castle fill with more than 50 stalls from local artisan food producers and craft makers, alongside live folk music, multicultural dance performances and live cooking demonstrations. It runs from 11am to 4pm and entry to the festival is free.

It’s a genuinely local showcase — the stalls are drawn from producers across Fermanagh and Northern Ireland, so it’s a good way to taste the county in one afternoon, meet the people who make its food and drink, and pick up something to take home.

The castle sits right on the edge of Enniskillen town centre, an easy walk from the main street. The festival itself costs nothing, though normal admission applies if you want to go into the castle’s museums while you’re there — worth doing, as the complex holds both the Fermanagh County Museum and the Inniskillings Museum.

Billed by Fermanagh Lakelands Tourism as one of the county’s most popular community festivals, the Belcoo Sports and Festival takes over this small border village for ten days each August. Belcoo sits on the shore of Lough Macnean at the western edge of Fermanagh, facing Blacklion in Co Cavan across the bridge, and the festival is very much the village’s big week of the year.

The programme mixes family fun days and children’s entertainment with sporting competitions — fishing and tractor runs among them — plus a community parade, live music and traditional sessions, quizzes, bingo and treasure hunts spread across venues around the village.

This is a community festival rather than a polished commercial one, and that’s its charm: if you’re staying in the Fermanagh lakelands in mid-August it’s an easy way to fall in with local life for an evening. Details of individual events are published by the festival committee closer to the time.

Styling itself the most westerly annual celebration of great beers, real ales and cyders, Outpost returns to the Dog & Duck Inn in the village of Lisbellaw, just outside Enniskillen, for its fourth year. Expect over 30 carefully selected ales, beers and ciders from producers across Ireland, poured in a proper country-pub setting.

It’s more than a drinking session: the day features bands playing through the afternoon and evening, CAMRA tastings and meet-the-brewer talks, with fresh food served all day until 9pm. Every guest receives the limited-edition festival glass and a token for their first half pint.

The festival is held each August on the weekend before the bank holiday, and it has clearly found its audience — advance tickets for 2026 are already sold out, with only a limited number available on the door at £15. Arrive early if you’re chancing it on the day.

On Friday 18 September, Fermanagh joins the all-island Culture Night, the annual evening when cultural venues of every kind open their doors late and lay on special programming — all of it free by design.

Fermanagh’s events are listed by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, with activity running from 6pm across various venues, and Enniskillen — with its castle, museums, theatre and galleries clustered around the island town — is the natural base for the evening. Past editions across the county have ranged from live music and readings to open studios and behind-the-scenes access to buildings that are normally closed by teatime.

The full Fermanagh listing is published on the Culture Night website closer to the night, so check it before you set out — the 2026 programme was still being assembled over the summer. No booking is needed for most events; you simply wander and drop in.

Florence Court’s annual Harvest Fair fills the grounds of one of Ireland’s finest Georgian houses with an artisan food and craft market, staged in collaboration with the neighbouring Tully Mill. Expect fresh local produce, homemade treats and Fermanagh delicacies, with food and entertainment pitched at all ages — the National Trust flags it as a family-friendly day out.

The fair runs from 11am to 4pm on both the Saturday and Sunday, and no booking is needed. The event itself is free, though normal admission charges to Florence Court apply for non-members, while National Trust members get in free on scanning their card.

Late October is a lovely time at Florence Court, with autumn colour through the parkland below Cuilcagh mountain, so it’s worth combining the fair with a walk in the demesne. Dress for the weather — much of the fair is outdoors. The full 2026 vendor line-up is still to be confirmed on the Trust’s website.

The Ardhowen, Enniskillen’s theatre on the shore of Lough Erne, marks the start of the festive season with a ten-day run of the West End musical adaptation of Disney’s Frozen — Elsa, Anna and the journey to Arendelle, complete with all the songs families will know by heart.

The theatre is pitching it squarely as a treat for the whole family, with evening performances at 8pm and 2.30pm matinees on Saturdays and Sunday. Notably, the Sunday 6 December performance is sensory-inclusive, with reduced sound levels, sustained auditorium lighting and British Sign Language interpretation, making it a genuinely accessible option for families who find standard theatre hard work.

Tickets are £16–£18 and non-refundable, and with a December run in the county’s main theatre this is likely to book up — reserve ahead through the Ardhowen’s website or box office. The production uses strobe lighting and haze effects, worth knowing for younger or light-sensitive visitors.