Carlow County Council has announced cultural events programme to mark Ireland's EU Presidency

Carlow County Council has announced a programme of cultural events to mark Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with four events set to take place across the county between October and December.

Ireland holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1 to December 31, 2026, with Carlow’s programme forming part of ‘Cultúr 2026: Sharing Ireland’s Culture,’ the national cultural programme celebrating Ireland’s cultural identity and connections with Europe.

The Carlow programme will showcase the county’s heritage, literature, visual arts and music, while highlighting its links with communities and cultural partners across Europe.

Developed in collaboration with artists, local communities, organisers and cultural organisations, the programme will explore themes including language, landscape, music, storytelling, traditions and community life.

The programme gets underway on Friday, October 2 with European Horizons: visual arts on the European stage, a visual artist exchange developed in partnership with María de Huerva in Spain.

The project will culminate in a specially curated event at VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art and St Patrick’s College in Carlow, featuring workshops, a panel discussion and a showcase of work by participating artists.

The second event, Harmonious Carlow, will take place on Friday, October 9, coinciding with European day of rock art.

Organised by the Carlow heritage office and Carlow county council library service, the event will celebrate the prehistoric rock art of the Blackstairs Mountains.

It will include children’s workshops with local artist Jules Michael, adult workshops with artist Máiréad Holohan, as well as a lecture by professor Muiris Ó Súilleabháin at the step house hotel in Borris.

The programme will then showcase Carlow’s literature with storylands exchange: writer in residence cultural exchange programme.

Facilitated by Carlow County Council’s writer in residence Caroline Busher, the initiative will see young writers from Carlow take part in a virtual cultural exchange with the city library in Luxembourg, which is Carlow’s EU Presidency partner country.

The exchange will finish on Thursday, November 5 as part of a civic reception.

The final event, will bring together music generation’s senior youth traditional ensembles and Scottish indie trad trio project SMOK.

The collaboration will celebrate cultural connections, creativity and youth participation through traditional music, coming together in a final performance on Sunday, December 6.

Carlow county council said the programme reflects the county’s “distinct cultural character” while also highlighting its place within a wider European cultural landscape.

The programme is supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport through Culture Ireland.

Additional support has been provided by Creative Ireland Carlow, with the programme coordinated locally by Carlow County Council through its heritage office, library services and arts office.