All Together Now Festival Sells Out as Pulp, Kneecap, and Christy Moore Head Curraghmore Bill
The All Together Now festival at Curraghmore Estate in County Waterford has sold out ahead of its 30 July to 2 August run, with a headline bill that brings together the legendary Pulp, Belfast rap provocateurs Kneecap, and folk icon Christy Moore in a programme that captures the breadth and ambition of one of Ireland's most distinctive summer music events.
Background
All Together Now was established in 2018 as a deliberately different kind of Irish music festival, one that sought to combine high-quality musical programming with a strong emphasis on community, sustainability, and the arts. The festival is held at Curraghmore Estate, the ancestral home of the Marquess of Waterford, a 2,500-acre estate in the Comeragh Mountains that provides a spectacular natural setting for an outdoor event. The combination of the estate's natural beauty, its historic architecture, and the festival's distinctive programming philosophy has created an event with a loyal and enthusiastic following.
The festival has grown steadily since its launch, expanding its capacity and its programming ambitions while maintaining the intimate, community-oriented atmosphere that distinguishes it from larger Irish festivals. Its commitment to sustainability — including a ban on single-use plastics, a focus on local food producers, and a programme of environmental education — has made it a model for responsible festival management in Ireland.
The 2026 edition arrives at a moment of particular cultural significance for Irish music. The global success of Kneecap — the Belfast Irish-language rap trio whose film and music have attracted international attention — has created a new conversation about Irish cultural identity and the relationship between language, politics, and popular culture. Their inclusion on the All Together Now bill is a statement of the festival's willingness to engage with the most provocative and exciting currents in contemporary Irish culture.
Key Developments
The headline acts for the 2026 All Together Now festival represent a remarkable range of musical traditions and generations. Pulp, the Sheffield band led by Jarvis Cocker, are one of the defining acts of British indie music, their 1990s catalogue including "Common People," "Mis-Shapes," and "Disco 2000" among the most beloved songs of the era. The band's reunion has been one of the most celebrated events in British music in recent years, and their appearance at Curraghmore is expected to be one of the highlights of the Irish festival summer.
Kneecap's inclusion on the bill reflects their extraordinary rise from cult Belfast act to internationally recognised cultural phenomenon. The trio — comprising Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí — have used their music and their public persona to challenge assumptions about Irish identity, the Irish language, and the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Their film, which premiered at Sundance and received widespread critical acclaim, has introduced them to audiences far beyond their original fanbase, and their live performances are renowned for their energy and political engagement.
Christy Moore, the Kildare-born folk singer and songwriter who has been one of the defining voices of Irish music for more than five decades, provides a connection to the deepest roots of the Irish musical tradition. Moore's catalogue — including songs like "Ride On," "Lisdoonvarna," and "Ordinary Man" — represents a body of work that has shaped the cultural identity of generations of Irish people, and his presence at All Together Now is a reminder of the continuity that runs through Irish musical culture from the traditional to the contemporary.
Why It Matters
All Together Now matters because it represents a vision of Irish cultural life that is inclusive, ambitious, and rooted in a genuine commitment to community and sustainability. In a festival landscape that can sometimes feel dominated by commercial considerations, All Together Now has maintained a distinctive identity that prioritises the quality of the experience over the scale of the event. The sell-out of the 2026 edition is a validation of that approach and a demonstration that there is a significant audience for a festival that takes its cultural and environmental responsibilities seriously.
The combination of Pulp, Kneecap, and Christy Moore on the same bill is itself a statement about the breadth of Irish cultural appetite. The festival's audience is drawn from across Ireland and from the Irish diaspora, and the programming reflects the diversity of that audience's musical tastes and cultural references. The willingness to place a Belfast Irish-language rap act alongside a Sheffield indie legend and a Kildare folk icon is a reflection of the festival's confidence in its audience's openness and curiosity.
The Kneecap dimension is particularly significant in the current cultural moment. The trio's success has sparked a broader conversation about the Irish language, about Northern Irish identity, and about the relationship between culture and politics that extends well beyond the music industry. Their presence at All Together Now will bring that conversation to a new audience and will add a dimension of political and cultural engagement to the festival that goes beyond entertainment.
Local Impact
For County Waterford and the Comeragh Mountains area, All Together Now is a significant economic event, generating business for local accommodation providers, food producers, and service industries. The festival's commitment to sourcing food and drink from local producers creates a direct economic benefit for the Waterford and wider Munster food sector, and the influx of festival-goers provides a boost to the local economy that extends beyond the festival weekend itself.
Curraghmore Estate, which is not normally open to the public, becomes a focal point for the Waterford community during the festival period, and the event has helped to raise the profile of the estate and the surrounding area as a destination for cultural tourism. Waterford City and County Council has been supportive of the festival's development and has worked with the organisers to ensure that the event's impact on the local community is as positive as possible.
What's Next
All Together Now runs from 30 July to 2 August 2026 at Curraghmore Estate. The festival is sold out, but a limited number of day tickets may be released in the coming days for those who were unable to secure weekend passes. The organisers are expected to announce the 2027 festival dates and early-bird ticket sales in the autumn, with the success of the 2026 edition likely to generate strong demand for the next edition. The festival's sustainability report for 2026 will be published following the event, providing a detailed account of the environmental impact of the festival and the measures taken to minimise it.
