2026 Emerald Isle Irish Féile

Summary

The 2026 Emerald Isle Irish Féile is announced for September 11-12, 2026, by the Beaver Island Irish Heritage Group (BIIHG). A held Northern Islander article bylined by Festival Coordinator Kathleen “Kitty” McNamara names an eight-act lineup and describes ticket sales beginning March 13, 2026.¹ This is an advance announcement: the festival itself falls after the end of the held Northern Islander run.

Program

The March 2026 Northern Islander announcement names the following acts, with the article’s own descriptions:

• Altan — described as one of Ireland’s most prominent traditional-music groups; the article states lead singer Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh has “a direct connection to Beaver Island through longstanding associations with County Donegal fiddling traditions,” linked to the Donegal Fiddlers Association’s recognition of Beaver Island’s role connecting modern Donegal fiddling to its pre-famine heritage through Alan Lomax’s 1930s recordings of Beaver Island fiddler Patrick Bonner.¹
• Arranmore Pipe Band — described as returning to Beaver Island, with the article recalling their 2023 arrival “off the back of the Emerald Isle” onto the dock; scheduled to arrive Thursday, September 10, 2026.¹
• Stay Happy Band — named as Beaver Islanders Cindy Gillespie Cushman, Rita Palmer, Hilary Palmer, Ava Palmer-Bousquet, and fiddler Ruby John.¹
• Danny Gillespie & Friends — led by Beaver Island native Danny Gillespie, with Jim Boynton (fiddle, tin whistle, vocals) and Shawnie McDonough (banjo, vocals), and occasional appearances by Timmy Baker and Jackson Smith.¹
• Jerry Early & Arranmore Friends — Jerry Early, an Arranmore Island singer-songwriter, with Anne Connaghan, John Flanagan, and John Gallagher; the group is also described as hosting cultural workshops in mummers, dancing, and Irish football.¹
• Latency — featuring Hilary Palmer and Shawn McDonough, described as bridging Arranmore and Beaver Island musicians.¹
• Brother Crowe — a Detroit-based group fusing Celtic and Americana music, with members Derek Wikarski, Paul Wikarski, Stephen Vilnius, Bob Gilbert, and Steve Lesko.¹
• Bastard Bearded Irishmen — a Pittsburgh-based group formed in 2008, with frontman Jimmy Bastard, Ryan Warmbrodt, Sean-Paul Williams, Paul Dvorchak, Steve LaRusso, Luke Zacherl, and Stephen Weiss.¹

Ticket sales were announced to begin March 13, 2026: 150 early-bird tickets at $85 and a remaining 400 at $95, described in the article as “the same rate as last year.”¹ The festival’s own website separately lists additional headliners — Catriona Kennedy, The Kreellers, Roane, and Enda Reilly — not named in the Northern Islander announcement.²

Evidence limits

The Northern Islander announcement is a held periodical source — the only one found for this year — but it is an advance announcement of a lineup, not a report of a completed festival: the held Northern Islander run ends in April 2026, five months before the September festival date, so no held source confirms that any of these acts performed, that the festival occurred as scheduled, or what happened at it. The official website’s overlapping but non-identical headliner list, read on 3 August 2026, is not independently corroborated by any held periodical or archived snapshot.

Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes