Videos from ‘Getting Ready For the Fleadh’ Event are available here

Get Ready For The Fleadh 2026 (full video)
Full recording of the business information session, covering event overview, visitor numbers, operations, opportunities and practical tips to help Belfast businesses prepare for Fleadh 2026.

1) Welcome – Lynette Fay
Broadcast presenter Lynette Fay opens the session, setting the scene for Fleadh 2026 and introducing how the event will showcase Irish music and culture in Belfast.

2) Opening Remarks – Damien Martin
Damien Martin, Strategic Director of Place and Economy at Belfast City Council, outlines why hosting the Fleadh is significant for the city and what it means for local businesses.

3) Overview – Lesley Ann O’Donnell
Lesley Ann O’Donnell, Senior Manager for Tourism, provides an overview of the Fleadh footprint, key dates, expected visitor numbers and peak times, and what businesses can expect across the week.

4) Q&A
A question-and-answer segment where businesses ask about operations, road closures, licensing, staffing and other practical issues, with responses from Belfast City Council and partners.

5) Visit Belfast – Gavin McKenna
Gavin McKenna from Visit Belfast explains planned marketing activity, visitor servicing and how businesses can tap into promotion and information channels during the Fleadh.

6) Fleadh Regional Opportunities – Carmel Scott
Carmel Scott highlights wider regional and national marketing opportunities linked to the Fleadh, and how businesses can connect to campaigns and audiences beyond the city centre.

7) Preparing Your Business: Practical Steps – Nial Borthistle
Nial Borthistle, Enterprise and Business Growth Manager at Belfast City Council, shares practical steps on staffing, training, opening hours, customer experience and operations to get businesses Fleadh‑ready.

8) Industry Panel – How Businesses Are Getting Ready for the Fleadh
A panel of local industry representatives discuss how they are planning for Fleadh 2026, sharing real examples, lessons learned and ideas other businesses can adapt.

Members of the Belfast Flavours Committee attended the 2025 Fleadh as part of a Belfast City delegation. Held in Wexford Town, the organiser’s reported that 800,000 people visited the event alongside 7,000+ competitors.

To give you an idea of the scale, they sold 900,000 pints of Guinness and the 2025 Fleadh was the biggest held to date. For those of you who remember the World Police & Fire Games, we are expecting more visitors than came here for that in 2013 with activity more concentrated in Belfast than it was then.

With road closures in place, the streets of Wexford were jam-packed full of people, live music and cultural activity. Visitors were catered for in cafes, restaurants and bars as well as street food vans in prime locations across the town.

2025 was the second year Wexford had hosted the festival and they had learnt, from their experience and that of those who hosted before them, about the importance of being prepared.

Many establishments had set-up additional service outside their premises at stalls and from vans or had cleverly created “hatches” to serve from. Menus had been adapted for speed of service, for food-on-the-move and to showcase the best of their local produce and suppliers.

Establishments we saw spoke of staffing up, putting holidays on hold, liaising with suppliers, considering waste management and sustainability challenges to ensure that they were able to cater for the high volume of visitors whilst ensuring a top quality, locally authentic experience.

Whilst hospitality is important for all City visitors, this event brings additional requirements and unique opportunities:

1. There is a need to feed groups of participants including adjudicators, festival organisers and volunteers in the specific locations where they are based across the City

2. Fleadh visitors, whether audiences or competitors and their families, all need to be catered for across the day. Depending on their accommodation type this may include breakfast, lunch and dinner.

3. This is also an important opportunity to showcase our food and drink producers, chefs, restaurants, mixologists, bars and street food traders, encouraging repeat visits and raising profile of our food and drink offering and our status as a world-class culinary destination.

‍There is a map showing the zoning plan / footprint of the Fleadh is available in the operational briefing slides found here.

Mid-January it was announced that the main venues will include:

• Belfast City Hall where the main stage, known as the Gig Rig will be set-up with free performances taking place across the festival.

• The Waterfront and Ulster Hall plus ICC and MAC will all be used for performances with some also hosting competitions.

• Titanic Quarter’s outdoor landscape will be used as the home for some larger band competitions

• Ulster University will be host Scoil Éigse which offers young and up and coming musicians a unique opportunity to learn from traditional music’s best teachers and musicians. This week of intensive tuition and fun filled sessions at ‘Club na hÉigse’ culminates in a special concert featuring students and tutors.

No, there will be a fringe programme of events running at indoor and outdoor venues across Greater Belfast. There will also be activity taking place in North Down who were one of the partners who helped Belfast win the Bid. Details of this can be found in the Belfast City Council briefing slides here

Arrangements are currently being finalised for a camp site and visitors will stay in all types of accommodation across the City and beyond. Camping provision details and map can be found in the Belfast City Council briefing slides here.

‍Yes there will be road closures for the duration of the event in the City Centre. Details of these have been released by Belfast City Council and be viewed in the Belfast City Council briefing slides here.

Should your business fall within the closure, the Council’s team will be in touch regarding access for deliveries etc.

• Am I allowed to trade on the street outside my establishment?

• Can I extend my trading hours?

• What plans are in place for allowing live music to take place if I don’t currently hold an entertainment licence?

Belfast City Council are currently working on all aspects of licencing.

Information on entertainment licencing, pavement café licencing and temporary street trading licencing can be found in the Belfast City Council briefing slides here.

13th April Update on Accreditation and Logistics Hub and Licensing (ALH)

How to obtain passes

• Contact Fleadh team now for planned deliveries registration. Passes will be given at the hub in advance of the Fleadh for the 4am-8am window.

• Unexpected or additional deliveries can be made (crowds permitting). Need to go to AHL on the day for a pass.

• App takeaways allowed on bike or foot - in car would need to park outside of road closure.

• Storage available week before, during and week after Fleadh (including frozen/refrigeration).

Licensing

General

• Recommendation has now been extended until end of May to get in new licence/amendment requests into building control licensing.

Street Trading

• A specific window for temporary street trading licences for Royal Avenue, Bridge St and High St (40 pitches available) will be open to apply 20th April to 29th May

• Previously hot food was not going to be allowed as a street trader in the 3 streets above, however, this will now be allowed, albeit limited.

  Petrol generators not allowed but others are

  Commodities considered suitable include:

  • Arts and crafts goods

  • Artisan products

  • High quality souvenirs

  • Food and soft drink offerings - There are a limited number of street trading licences for fast food type offerings.

  • Alcohol is not a suitable commodity

Full details of all opportunities and how to apply are on Belfast City Council’s website: https://ow.ly/KQQo50YKo08

There will be a number of opportunities to maximise the opportunities this event presents. Details on how to apply to be part of specific elements will be announced in the coming weeks by Belfast City Council so in the meantime, check back here for updates.

Depending on your business there will be different ways you can get involved:

Street Food:

There will be an Official Food Village located in the Cathedral Quarter. Belfast City Council will share details on how to participate in the coming weeks.

There will also be street food concessions and trader markets at other locations across the City which will be managed independently by land owners and market organisers. We will publish any opportunities we are made aware of, the first of which is for the ICC - details can be found HERE.

Producers:

St George’s Market will have extended opening hours across the 8 days of the Festival.

There may be one or more local producers’ markets held across the City. We will publish any opportunities we are made aware of.

Restaurants, Cafes and Bars:

There may be opportunities for group bookings across the festival which would include lunch and/or dinner events and provision for media, organisers and adjudicators. We will publish any opportunities we are made aware of.

April 2026 Update:

Information presented by BCC, TNI, Visit Belfast and Food to Go at the hospitality and tourism briefing event are available to view or download here.

They contain information on all things Fleadh and signposting for various areas of planning.

13th April - New Licencing Update - see question “What about licencing?” above

Food Village:

A dedicated Food Village will be located in the grounds of St Anne’s Cathedral from 2-9 August, offering visitors a flavour of the city’s thriving food scene and high-quality local produce, as they refuel and relax between competitions, sessions and events.

🔹St George’s Market will have extended opening hours

- 10am to 5pm, Monday 3 to Wednesday 5 August

- 10am to 10pm, Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August.

(There will also be additional space for traders in neighbouring Verner Street.)

🔹A limited number of temporary street trading opportunities are also planned for three streets in the heart of the proposed pedestrianised area in Belfast city centre, at High Street, Bridge Street and Royal Avenue.

Full details of all opportunities, and how to apply once they open, are on Belfast City Council’s website now - https://ow.ly/KQQo50YKo08