The Craic is back March 4-7 bringing bringing U.S. premieres, New York City premieres, live music, Irish dance, filmmaker Q&As, and post-screening parties to venues across Manhattan.
CraicFest Kickoff takes place, like every year, at Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar. This year’s kickoff blends contemporary Irish music and cutting-edge dance, featuring live music from Graham Smith and Irish dance performance by Kait Rock, fresh from the stage of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour. (The event is free with RSVP, though capacity is limited and early arrival is encouraged.)
“CraicFest 2026 brings together a strong mix of Irish film, music, and storytelling that reflects where Irish culture is right now,” said Terence Mulligan, Festival Producer. “We’re proud to present a program that includes major premieres alongside new and emerging voices, and to share these stories with New York audiences in a way that feels accessible, relevant, and communal.”
CraicFest 2026 will host the much anticipated New York City premiere of “Saipan,” a critically-acclaimed dramatic look at the historic fallout from one of the biggest ever World Cup feuds, which in 2002 split a nation — on one side Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, played by Steve Coogan, and the other, star player Roy Keane, the Cork native and Manchester United midfield star, played by Eanna Hardwicke. The premiere of the Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn-directed film will be screened at Village East by Angelika. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the directors and an official after-party at Solas.
CraicFest also presents “Celebrating New Voices: Irish Shorts Night,” a curated showcase of bold new voices in Irish cinema. The program features award-winning shorts including “Mouse” (directed by Rosie Barrett, starring Lynn Raffery), I” DO” (Joseph Jones), “HomeTime” (Jonathan Lambert), and “Gale Force” (Tara Hegarty). Local filmmakers will be in attendance, offering audiences the opportunity to engage directly with the creative voices behind the work. The evening concludes with the official after-party at Factory 380. On Saturday morning, CraicFest will present the Family Programming & Cultural Storytelling Program: Best of Animated Shorts, a lively, family-friendly screening featuring award-winning Irish animated and live-action shorts such as “Give Up Yer Aul Sins” and “Granny O’Grimm.”
In documentary, the CraicFest features “BP Fallon: Rock ’n’ Roll Wizard,” directed by Niall Carver, and “Where the Road Meets the Sky,” an experimental film by John Connors.
CraicFest will conclude with the U.S. premiere of “Ballroom Boom,” directed by Billy McGrath and narrated by Adam Clayton, the film explores the rise and fall of Ireland’s showband era, a musical movement that shaped generations of performers and influenced artists from Van Morrison and Rory Gallagher to Oasis and The Smiths. “Both Billy McGrath and Adam Clayton will attend the screening, making this a landmark closing night event,” Mulligan said.
For full details visit, www.thecraicfest.com.
