The booking page for the 2026 William Kennedy Piping Festival is now live!
The Festival runs from Thursday 12 November to Sunday 15 November 2026 in Armagh City. The programme follows below.
Tickets available are:
- Academy Pass (£100) Includes access to all classes, all concerts, pipe maintenance workshop and lectures.
- Festival Pass (£60) Includes access to all concerts
- 60 Years of Armagh Pipers Club Concert (Friday)
- Small Pipes Classes (£25-Saturday morning)
- Uilleann Pipes- The Next Generation Concert (£10-Saturday afternoon)
- Festival Concert (£20-Saturday Evening)
- Uilleann Pipes Concert (£15-Sunday afternoon)
Programme WKPF 2026
Thursday 12 November
8pm Session
The Charlemont Arms Hotel
James Kinnear, Fin Moore, Sarah Hoy, Kevin Dugas & others
Friday 13 November
11am Schools Concert
Armagh First Presbyterian Church, The Mall – open to schools only – £2
Fin Moore & Sarah Hoy, Kevin Dugas, James Kinnear
7.30pm CONCERT: 60 Years of Armagh Pipers Club
Armagh First Presbyterian Church, The Mall – £25
Featuring: Brian Finnegan, Ríoghnach Connolly, Barry Kerr, Eilís Lavelle, Méabh Smyth, Jack Warnock, The Vallely Family, Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn and others.
Fear a’ tí: Fintan Vallely
8pm Session
The Hole in the Wall Bar
Marc Pollier, Colin O Loughlin, Sinéad Uí Mhurchadha, Fin Moore, Sarah Hoy, Kevin Dugas, Louise Mulcahy & others
10pm Session
The Charlemont Arms Hotel
Cillian Vallely, Sébastien Lagrange, Gaël Rutkowski, Fernando Cárcaba & others
Saturday 14 November
10am Mark Donnelly Piping Academy Classes
10am – 11.30am & 12noon – 1pm
Aonach Mhacha (various rooms)
Mark Redmond, Louise Mulcahy, Sinéad Uí Mhurchadha, Éamonn Galldubh, Brian McNamara, Marc Pollier and Cillian Vallely
10am Small pipes classes – open to all levels
10am – 11.30am & 12noon – 1pm
Aonach Mhacha £25
Fin Moore
11am APC tutors and pupil sessions (until 7pm) along with pupils from Traditional Arts Partnership South Armagh.
Sessions open to everyone.
Aonach Mhacha (theatre & café)
1pm – 1.40pm: Matt Mancuso, Liam Treanor, Gerry Lappin, Louise Hughes
2pm – 2.40pm: Mark Mohan, Cara Quinn, Michael Coney
3pm – 3.40pm: Oisín O Reilly, Paul Bradley, Stephen McCusker, Katie Boyle
4pm – 4.40pm: Donna McKinney, Laura Kerr, Tara Gilsenan, Ciarán Hanna
5pm – 5.40pm: Sabina McCague McGovern, Damien Robinson, Sinéad Walsh, Sadhbh McCabe
Saturday 14 November continued
2pm CONCERT Uilleann Piping – The Next Generation
Aonach Mhacha (top floor) £10
Cadhla Tohill, Tove Byers, Roisín McNamara, Ciarán Murphy, APC senior pipers, James Kinnear
3pm Session
The Hole in the Wall Bar
Fernando Cárcaba, Sébastien Lagrange, Gaël Rutkowski, Rosie Smyth, Fearghal French & others
3.30pm The Cape Breton Tradition
Aonach Mhacha (top floor)
Kevin Dugas (Cape Breton GHB) – Fin Moore & Sarah Hoy
5pm Session
The Charlemont Arms Hotel
Ciaran Murphy, Cadhla Tohill, Tove Byers, Roisín McNamara, James Kinnear & others
5pm Mark Donnelly Piping Academy William Kennedy Lecture – open to all
Aonach Mhacha (top floor)
Peter Browne – ‘The Allistrum Suite of Music’
7.30pm FESTIVAL CONCERT
Aonach Mhacha (theatre) £20
Glen Road Trio, Éamonn Galldubh Baroque Ensemble, Sult, Fernando Cárcaba (Asturias)
Sunday 15 November
11am Mark Donnelly Academy Pipe Maintenance Workshop
Aonach Mhacha (top floor)
Éamonn Curran
12.30 Lecture | Chanters – in Harmony or in Conflict
Aonach Mhacha (top floor)
Danny McGreevy
2pm CONCERT Uilleann Pipes
Aonach Mhacha (theatre) £15
Louise Mulcahy, Sinéad Uí Mhurchadha, Marc Pollier,
Brian McNamara, Mark Redmond & Cillian Vallely
3pm Session
The Hole in the Wall Bar
James Kinnear, Sébastien Lagrange, Gaël Rutkowski & others
7pm The Scattering Session
The Charlemont Arms Hotel