What's On in Longford

The Marquee in Drumlish is exactly what it sounds like: each August a big tent goes up in the north Longford village of Drumlish and four nights of music, comedy and dancing follow. The 2026 bill mixes local talent with touring names, with country favourites including David James, Claudia Buckley, Mike Denver and Ray Lynam among the acts — and, by tradition, local star Declan Nerney closes the final night.

It is a country-music night out in the old style, and refreshingly analogue with it: there is no advance booking at all. Admission is €25 on the gate each night, first come, first served, with gates opening at 8.30pm and artists on stage from 9pm. Card and cash are accepted from Friday to Sunday; the Monday finale is cash only.

Note that the marquee is an over-18s event. Parking is provided in the village, with motorhome and campervan parking at Drumlish Community Centre.

National Heritage Week runs from 15 to 23 August 2026, and Longford’s programme is a fine excuse to poke around one of Ireland’s least-touristed counties. Over the nine days, heritage sites, community groups and local historians put on guided tours, workshops, exhibitions and talks celebrating the county’s history, biodiversity and folklore, with events in Longford town and in villages across the county.

The 2026 national theme is “Heritage at Risk”, turning attention to endangered built, natural and cultural heritage — the sites, artefacts and practices that need reimagining and reviving before they disappear.

Most events are free, though some tours and workshops have limited places. The full county listing is published on the Heritage Week website in the run-up to the week itself, searchable by county, so it is worth checking what falls around your dates before travelling.

Longford’s flagship road race returns on Sunday 30 August 2026. The Abbott Longford Marathon is really several races in one, with full marathon, half marathon and ultra marathon courses all run from the county town — a format that draws everyone from first-time half-marathoners to serious long-distance specialists, and gives the town a proper occasion for the last weekend of summer.

Entries for 2026 are already open, with registration handled through Eventmaster via the official website, where you will also find course maps and entry fees for each distance.

If you are tempted to take part, get your entry in through the site ahead of race day and give yourself time to explore: the race makes a good anchor for a late-summer weekend in the midlands, with Corlea Trackway, the Royal Canal Greenway and Lough Ree all within easy reach of Longford town.

Culture Night is Ireland’s annual island-wide celebration of arts, culture and creativity: on one Friday evening each September, venues everywhere open their doors late and put on free events, from late afternoon until well into the night. The twenty-first edition falls on Friday 18 September 2026, and Longford runs a county programme of its own.

Expect galleries, libraries, theatres, studios and community spaces in Longford town and the county’s smaller towns to host performances, exhibitions, workshops and open evenings. The appeal is as much in wandering between venues as in any single event — and in getting into spaces that are rarely open to visitors the rest of the year.

Everything is free and most events need no ticket, though smaller venues may be first-come, first-served. The detailed Longford listings are published on the Culture Night website closer to the night, where you can browse events by location and plan an evening around them.

Halloween belongs to the midlands: Longford and Westmeath together form one of the hubs of the all-island Ireland’s Home of Halloween programme, celebrating Samhain in the region that claims the festival’s oldest roots. Longford’s contribution peaks on Halloween night itself with the Fire & Shadows Procession — a dramatic parade of light, fire and mythology through Longford town, with lanterns, performers and music inspired by ancient Irish traditions.

The procession is the centrepiece of Longford’s Dead of Night Halloween festival, which in previous years has filled the days before Halloween with street performance and family events. In past editions the parade has wound through the streets to a fire-beacon finale at Connolly Barracks, where the Samhain fire banishes the spirits back to the otherworld for another year.

The full 2026 Dead of Night programme — and the wider Longford–Westmeath Home of Halloween line-up, including a new Samhain Trail — is due to be announced in the coming months, so check the Visit Longford website closer to October. Some festival events are ticketed, but the procession itself takes to the streets of the town.