Slow down social is a lowkey hangout for people aged 18-35 to create artwork, make friends and enjoy mindful crafts in a relaxed, welcoming space. Held once a fortnight on a Saturday from 11-1, we will host guest artists each session to share their practise with us! Book via catalogue.sefton.gov.uk
What does it mean to make Irish work in Britain today? Who commissions it, who shapes it, and how do we ensure it is seen and seen well? Centred on our Festival theme I Am Here and with contributions from several creatives, the day provides in-person connection for creatives to meet, share and inspire.
The #CCEN brings together Irish and Northern Irish artists, creatives, cultural providers and commissioners to do exactly that: to connect, collaborate and advocate for better representation of Irish arts and culture across the UK. With around 90 members — from individual artists to cultural organisations and Embassy representatives — it is one of the most active networks of its kind.
Once a year, the network comes together in person. This is that day. Delivered as a live showcase and working session, the day is artist-led, peer-driven and genuinely generative. Sessions explore how we make work in communities, how we challenge assumptions around representation and how we use the ordinary to reach the extraordinary. Expect work sharing, problem solving and honest conversations about what it takes to get Irish work made and onto stages.
The day takes place in one of Liverpool’s finest spaces. Participants will be provided with a pleasant vegetarian lunch.
All attendees are asked to submit a short bio or organisational overview on booking, to help the network connect before the day begins.
Not yet a #CCEN member? Join the network here — it’s free and this is exactly the kind of day membership is built for.
Supported by the Government of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs Emigrant Support Programme. Space kindly provided in kind by Victoria Gallery and Museum in partnership with Emerald Lens CIC.
Schedule of the day
Approximately 20 organisations with arts and culture projects in attendance.
10:00 Induction, welcomes and housekeeping
10:30 Emerald Lens – St Brigid’s Arms tour
11:45 Saoirse Crean – Folk 2 Folk
13:00 LUNCH
13:45 Sue Divin – I Am an Author
14:15 – Nollaig Molloy – The Irish Question
15:15 Claire Halpin – Substrata
16:00 ENDS
Join Liverpool Irish Festival’s John Maguire (also of ArtsGroupie) on a revealing journey through Liverpool city centre.
Spectators will hear about how the Victorian tragedy of the Irish Famine changed Liverpool’s streets. Trail walkers will learn about how locations were used for sanctuary, nourishment and safety. They will also hear and understand the benevolence of Liverpool’s people. Using a new trail app, headsets and recent Walk of the Bronze Shoes experience, your guide will really help you to walk in the shoes of Liverpool and Irish people 180-years ago.
The walks leave at 11am and 12.15pm. Bookers are asked to gather in the 15mins prior at the Pilotage Building (near the Museum of Liverpool), for a tour taking walkers up to Fenwick Street and back. The walk will last approximately 45mins.
Bookings for these tours will close at midday on Fri 23 Oct 2026 to allow time for processing tickets.
Meet at the waterside of the Pilotage Building, near Museum of Liverpool.
Complementing our work on the annual Liverpool Irish Famine Memorial, 2024’s Walk of the Bronze Shoes has created a new annual opportunity.
For those who don’t know, in 2024 members of our Festival team walked a pair of bronze shoes from County Roscommon (north midlands in Ireland) to Dublin (east coast of Ireland); sailed them to Holyhead and took them from Seacombe to Mersey Ports, to walk them to Clarence Dock Gates and on to the Famine Memorial. Why?
The bronze shoes are a marker of the National Famine Way in Ireland and Liverpool’s pair — teamed with 15-pairs in North America — are the first to form the Global Irish Famine Way.
Clarence Dock is where 1.8+m Irish Famine poor came into Liverpool. The Great Hunger commemoration memorial (unveiled in 1998) at St Luke’s Bombed Out Church remembers the 300k+ that stayed in Liverpool, the 1m+ that sailed overseas and the 2m+ that died. The journey between the two locations is indicative of the struggles of those sent here.
We’ll repeat the Clarence Dock to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church walk annually, until we find the bronze shoes a permanent home and we welcome you to join us.
Stewards will help people walk the route. Information will be provided at the site that morning. A small informal ceremony will start the vigil, with walkers from the Walk of the Bronze Shoes.
Meeting point: Please note the (web) location provided for this is the destination, not the meeting place. Please congregate at Clarence Dock Gates, on the water side of Regent Road, facing the junction of Cotton Street.
This activity has been made possible with funds from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The veil between our world and the Other is at its thinnest — and The Armagh Rhymers wouldn’t have it any other way.
As darkness falls on Samhain night, join us for the creepiest ceíli of the season: music to make your bones rattle, games to make your skin crawl, and dancing that might just raise the dead. Bring the little ones in their finest frightful dress-up — or don’t, if they dare to face the spirits plain-faced — and adults, consider yourselves warned: you will be expected to join in.
Children’s gift bags await the first 50 arrivals, and fiercely contested prizes go to the best Samhain costumes. Eye patches, false teeth, masks and props all welcome — shop-bought, homemade, or borrowed from something that goes bump in the night. Grab the face paint, unroll the spider webs, dig out last year’s glitter slime, and practise your most bloodcurdling ‘Woooooo’; the judges will be watching.
Activities are geared for children aged 4–12 (with supervision), though anyone aged 13 to 113 is welcome — children will just need to keep a close eye on their adults. Only pretend broken bones on this dance floor, please.
This event is held in partnership with Liverpool Irish Centre, with support from Comhaltas’s musicians.
In 1847, at the height of the Great Hunger, members of the Choctaw Nation in present-day Oklahoma made a remarkable donation to help starving people in Ireland. Their gift came 16-years after the Choctaw had begun their own forced removal from ancestral homelands along the Trail of Tears.
Thousands died from hunger, disease and exposure. Their gift remains one of history’s most powerful acts of international solidarity.
What inspired such generosity between peoples separated by an ocean? This talk explores the shared histories of famine, displacement, food and survival that connect Ireland and the Choctaw Nation. Drawing on the collaborative Sharing Lands: Reconciliation, Recognition and Reciprocity project, our talk examines how the Choctaw concepts of ima (giving) and iyyikowa (serving those in need) continue to shape relationships between Indigenous and Irish communities today.
The Festival theme I Am Here resonates deeply with this story. It’s relevant not only to survival after colonial violence, but also to recognising the presence, dignity, and humanity of others. Nearly 180 years after the Choctaw Gift, this extraordinary act of compassion continues to inspire new conversations about reciprocity, remembrance, and what it means to stand with one another across cultures, histories, and generations.
* * * * *
The remarkable story of the $172* sent by members of the Choctaw Nation, to the starving in Ireland, during the Great Famine in 1847 is well told. Even so, the details surrounding the connection between the Choctaw Nation, the people of Ireland and the gift’s legacy has been greatly understudied.
* Equivalent to £3,313.73 using The Bank of England’s inflation calculator on 22 June 2026
The Sharing Lands project team consists of Dr Padraig Kirwan and Dr Shelley Angelie Saggar (Goldsmiths), Professor LeAnne Howe (University of Georgia) and Professor Gillian O’Brien (Liverpool John Moores University). The team are internationally recognised experts in the fields of indigenous studies, literary studies, Irish famine studies and public history.
Care note: The Choctaw Nation’s history is a complex and sometimes contested one. Mindful discomfort can be a part of learning, but if the event becomes overly emotional for any attendee, we encourage you to move away quietly to put yourself where you feel safest. We don’t expect to use traumatising words, but we understand people’s levels are different. Though we don’t anticipate creating significant emotional discomfort, you are the expert in you, so please treat yourself carefully.
A wonderful opportunity to dance with live musicians, play for live dancing and learn about sean-nós.
Sean-nós dance is ‘old style’ percussive dance from Ireland. It’s really fun, low to the ground, improvised and in the music. You are supposed to dance like yourself, responding to how the music moves you, a great way to express yourself and say ‘I am here’.
Learn some of the history and customs of this traditional art form, dance steps and improvisational techniques alongside some of the best Irish traditional musicians in Liverpool.
Suitable for all abilities and for adults and young people who can concentrate and follow a class structure. Musicians are also encouraged to attend to deepen their understanding of playing for dancers and the natural lift and dynamism in traditional Irish dance music.
Led by Maria Malone from Movema dance charity and influential fiddle player Mikey Kenney.
This is a chance for 20 people only to join some of Liverpool’s finest Irish musicians and dancers for a fun and lively introduction to Irish set dancing.
Set dancing is céilí’s more challenging cousin! It’s a group social dance, done in sets of eight people, and features Ireland’s trademark fast music and intricate footwork.
Over the six-week course you will learn the basics of the footwork, including some percussive, battering steps, and structure of the dances and get an introduction to the history of music of the dance.
The classes will be relaxed and informal and feature musicians from Liverpool Ceilidh Band and teachers from Liverpool Irish Centre and Movema dance company.
You can come with a partner or on your own. Please wear light, comfortable clothing and preferably some hard soled shoes.
Open to over 16’s.
7-9pm, Tuesday nights:
27th October
3rd November
10th November
17th November
24th November
1st December.
Get ready for a joyful, next-generation Céilí.
Movema dance company, in league with live-band The Saltcutters, lead an evening of dance and music born from their experiences as multiple-heritage artists, working with Irish traditional forms in Liverpool, made in response to the Festival’s theme, I am here.
In the spirit of the old meanings of ‘céilí’, ‘neighbour’, ‘visit’ or ‘gathering’, Movema and Saltcutters invite you to come together with your neighbours to celebrate our shared humanity through group dances that connect us to others and celebrate our similarities and our differences. Expect dances and tunes from Ireland, England, Scotland and beyond. Guests will also hear the surprising stories of how music and dance travel, adapt, change and upend what we think we know about identity.
No experience is needed. No partner is required. Everyone’s welcome to dance any role. The evening’s calling is gender-free, so instead of ‘ladies and gents’ you might hear terms like ‘larks and robins’ or ‘ones and twos’. Dance whichever part feels right for you. Ideal for ages 16 and above.
Ticket price includes a hearty Irish stew with vegan and gluten-free options and a bar will be operating serving refreshments.
If you have got any access needs or concerns or want to know more before you come, get in touch: info@movema.co.uk
A Festival-staple and must-see; we invite you to pop-by — or indeed, spend the day with us — at the Museum of Liverpool (Pier Head). There, we’ve a veritable array of activity to entertain kids (and adults) of all ages.
The Armagh Rhymers return with their (exclusive to the Festival) Liver Bird story helping to understand how the First Nations people of North America helped the Irish during The Great Hunger. The Bolger-Cunningham Dance School will give it their all in the morning, before the George Ferguson School for Irish Dance produce junior and senior dance sets, whilst Melody Makers will bring their intergenerational group to play in the space. You’ll also be able to collect a Brave Maeve Tír Na nÓg map. The day puts the Irish of Liverpool at the heart of everything; the programme, the Museum and the city.
Plus there’ll be Brave Maeve activities for all the family.
The Family Day is sponsored by Tourism Ireland and held in partnership with National Museums Liverpool. As part of the Family programme, you might also like the Samhain Céilí (Sun 25 Oct).