All Together Now 2026 First Day Review: Traffic, Pulp, and the Magic of Curraghmore
The seventh edition of All Together Now got under way at the Curraghmore Estate in County Waterford on Thursday with a first day that reminded everyone why this independent festival has become one of the most cherished events on the Irish cultural calendar — a day of music, conversation, and community that set the tone for what promises to be another exceptional bank holiday weekend.
Background
All Together Now has built its reputation over seven editions on a simple but powerful proposition: that a festival can be curated with genuine artistic ambition, that its audience can be treated as adults capable of engaging with challenging and diverse programming, and that the setting — the extraordinary Curraghmore Estate in the Comeragh foothills — can be as much a part of the experience as the music itself. The 2026 edition, which sold out months in advance, arrived with high expectations and, on the evidence of the opening day, has every chance of meeting them.
The festival's 21-plus age restriction shapes the atmosphere in ways that are immediately apparent to anyone who has attended larger, more commercially oriented Irish festivals. The crowd is older, more relaxed, and more engaged with the full breadth of the programme — the spoken word stages, the comedy tents, the wellness areas, and the art installations — rather than simply queuing for the main stage headliners. It is a festival that rewards curiosity and punishes passivity, and its audience has learned to embrace that ethos.
The Curraghmore Estate itself, with its ancient trees, its walled gardens, and its river walks, provides a setting of extraordinary natural beauty that no amount of festival infrastructure can diminish. Arriving at Curraghmore for the first time is an experience that stays with you, and returning to it year after year is one of the pleasures that keeps the festival's loyal audience coming back.
Key Developments
The opening day's music programme was anchored by two acts that generated significant excitement among the festival's audience. Traffic, the legendary British rock band whose catalogue spans the late 1960s and 1970s, delivered a performance that drew a large and enthusiastic crowd to the main stage, with the band's blend of rock, jazz, and folk proving as compelling as ever. The set drew heavily on the band's classic albums and was received with genuine warmth by an audience that included many who had grown up with the music.
Pulp, the Sheffield band led by Jarvis Cocker, were the other major talking point of the opening day, delivering a performance that combined the wit and intelligence of their classic Britpop-era material with a genuine sense of occasion. Cocker's stage presence remains extraordinary, and the band's ability to connect with an audience that spans multiple generations was on full display at Curraghmore.
The spoken word and comedy stages were, as always, a highlight of the opening day, with several sessions running to capacity and generating the kind of animated discussion that spills out of the tents and into the festival's communal spaces. The wellness programme, which includes morning yoga, guided meditation, and talks on mental health, was well attended from the early hours of the morning.
Why It Matters
All Together Now matters because it demonstrates that there is a substantial Irish audience for a festival that takes artistic curation seriously and that refuses to reduce the festival experience to a series of commercial transactions. Its success is a rebuke to the homogenisation of the festival market and a demonstration that independent, values-driven events can thrive in a competitive landscape. The festival's commitment to Irish producers in its food village, its investment in sustainability, and its support for emerging artists alongside established names are all expressions of a coherent set of values that its audience shares and celebrates.
Local Impact
For the Curraghmore Estate and the surrounding Portlaw area, the festival weekend is the most significant event of the year. Local businesses, accommodation providers, and transport services all benefit from the influx of thousands of visitors, and the relationship between the festival and its host community has been broadly positive over seven editions. The estate's staff and the local volunteers who support the festival's operations play a crucial role in making the event work, and their contribution is acknowledged and valued by the organisers.
What's Next
The festival continues through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with a full programme of music, spoken word, comedy, theatre, and wellness events across 18 stages. The closing day on Sunday, 2 August, will bring the seventh edition of All Together Now to a close, with the organisers already looking ahead to 2027 and the challenge of maintaining the quality and ambition that have made the festival one of Ireland's most distinctive cultural events.
