The Dublin Irish Festival is considered the second largest Irish Festival in the world with over 100k visitors annually. Among the festivals offerings include 7 music stages with 800+ performers, 90+ vendors, a huge assortment of food, various activities, games and competitions.
2026 DATE: July 31 – August 2, 2026
Location: Coffman Park
5200 Emerald Pkwy
Dublin, OH 43017
Website: https://dublinirishfestival.org/
****
This post documents my experience on August 3, 2024.
You can visit HERE to read my 2011 experience.
Festival Overview
The Dublin Irish Festival is not only one of Ohio’s largest festivals, but it’s the second largest Irish festival in the world (the Milwaukee Irish Fest being the first). Each year, over 100,000 festival goers come to take advantage of the 7 music stages, the 6 food court areas, shopping areas and markets, activities, games and more.
Believe me, it is quite the festival…
…so let’s begin and talk about the festival section by section.
Activities
Throughout Coffman Park, there were all sorts of things to see and do while at the festival…
…such as watching the Scottish Games…
…working on your family tree…
…hanging a wish on someone’s else’s tree…
…learning history…
…tasting whiskey…
…playing darts…
…or hanging out with the Celtic Canines…
…where you could get up close with Irish breeds…
…particularly one of my favorites.
For a more interactive experience, there was Brian Boro’s Ireland, named after Ireland’s last great king…
…where you could interact with reenactors…
…learn about different aspects of Irish life…
…and visit exhibits.
For the kids…
…there was a similar living history area that focused on Vikings…
…with exhibits, experts and activities to entertain and educate.
Children could also take advantage of a large craft tent…
…a children’s entertainment stage…
…and an enormous playland…
…filled with inflatables galore.
Food
With so much to see and do throughout the park, it was important to have multiple food courts spread throughout the grounds as well.
Therefore, food courts could be found all over…
…each with an assortment of foods and cuisines…
…as well as some Irish food vendors among them…
…offering cabbage and noodles, fish and chips…
…corned beef, whiskey chops…
…Irish stew in a bread bowl…
…corned beef hash…
…and even some special Irish-influenced items via hot dogs and ice cream.
And don’t worry about washing all that Irish food down.
Plenty of beverage stations were situated around the grounds so that you’re mouth never need get parched.
Shopping
Over 90 vendors could be found among marketplaces…
…shopping areas…
…and festival merchandise booths…
…offering everything from caps to kilts…
…leather to tie dye…
…jewelry…
…baked goods…
…musical instruments…
…drinking horns, hand carved glass…
…door knockers, fairy doors…
…purses…
…wood carvings…
…and even some battle gear for the kids.
Performances
From the biggest stages…
…to the smallest…
…visitors were entertained with music…
…spoken word…
…and dance.
At the Dublin Irish Festival, visitors found great delight in the performers, sometimes camping out ahead of time…
…singing along to their favorite Irish songs…
…and witnessing some amazing performers from all over the world.