Upcoming events
Festivals, fairs, and happenings in Newbridge and nearby towns.
Sat 13 Feb 2027, 8:00pm – 10:30pm
Shane Daniel Byrne – Baby This Time
Ireland’s megastar Shane Daniel Byrne is back.“He storms a room.”- Tommy Tiernan.You’re invited along to Shane for an hour of fast paced and heartfelt stand up comedy.All his mates are having babies but Shane’s just having the craic! Is that so wrong? ‘Baby This Time’ is set to be Shane’s most personal show to date. A show about what makes a man who can’t make a baby.“My favourite new Irish comedian for Many Years” – David O’ Doherty.Tour Support“Shane Daniel Byrne is my favourite” Irish ExaminerBroadway World ⭐⭐⭐⭐“Superb as always”⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ GCN Magazine
Newbridge
4–8 Mar 2027
This Flight Tonight – The Songs of Joni Mitchell
The five-piece band will feature a comprehensive performance of Mitchell’s iconic 1971 Album Blue plus Joni’s finest songs ’68-’76.Widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of the Laurel Canyon sound, Blue remains a masterpiece of emotional honesty. Rather than a loose reinterpretation, Zervas & Pepper treat the performance as a faithful, respectful recital of masterworks. The production meticulously channels the inner spirit of Mitchell’s pivotal 1968–1976 Reprise/Asylum Records era, keeping the open-tuned acoustic and electric guitars, dulcimer, piano, harmonies, congas, bass, and vocals front and centre.The carefully crafted setlist travels from Joni’s intimate folk-club roots into her expansive full-band era, featuring cuts from million-selling albums Song To A Seagull, Clouds, Ladies of the Canyon, For The Roses, Court and Spark, Hissing of Summer Lawns, and Hejira, alongside the full performance of Blue.The production has earned critical acclaim for its staggering musical authenticity. Paul Zervas painstakingly recreates Mitchell’s intricate guitar work, capturing the precise alternate tunings, chord positions, and nuanced harmonic voicings that define her evocative musical landscape. Critics have also praised Pepper’s stunning vocal delivery, with UK Jazz News noting: “Kathryn Pepper matches Mitchell’s voice perfectly: her range, clarity of expression, intonation, distinctive vibrato, and resonant lower register all come across in her singing. This is no mean feat.”With five critically acclaimed studio albums of original music and a dedicated cult following across the UK and Europe, Zervas & Pepper bring over a decade of professional song-writing expertise to this respectful celebration of a generation-defining catalogue.
Newbridge
Sat 13 Mar 2027, 8:00pm – 9:30pm
King by Pat Kinevane
KING tells the story of Luther, a man from Cork named in honour of his Granny Bee Baw’s hero, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Luther only leaves his apartment for essential journeys, and to perform as an Elvis impersonator. The play explores prejudice, privilege, and resilience, as Luther struggles to live life to the full.Fishamble and Pat Kinevane have previously collaborated on FORGOTTEN, SILENT, UNDERNEATH, and BEFORE, which have won major international awards including Olivier, Fringe First, Herald Archangel, Adelaide Fringe, and Helen Hayes awards. They have been called BRILLIANT (Irish Times), EXTRAORDINARY (New York Times), STUNNING (Scotsman), DAZZLING (Guardian), and MESMERISING (Sydney Morning Herald). Now, Fishamble and Pat Kinevane, under the direction of Jim Culleton, and with music by Denis Clohessy, return with this very special fifth solo play.King is the fifth collaboration between Pat Kinevane and Fishamble, with Jim Culleton as director. The production was developed with the support of Nasc Network Commission and Georganne Aldrich Heller.Fishamble is supported by the Arts Council, Dublin City Council and Culture Ireland.
Newbridge
Sat 24 Apr 2027, 8:00pm – 8:00pm
Mary Coughlan
Mary is Ireland’s greatest jazz and blues singer and “one of our most openly raw performers” (Hotpress). In a career fast approaching its 40th year, she is about to enter its next, exciting stage.Born in Shantalla, Galway city, Mary has made some of the most uncompromising, wholly personal, and universal music by any Irish artist. While her roots are in jazz and blues – Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith are among her inspirations – pop, rock, folk, and chanson (Edith Piaf is also a touchstone) influences also appear in her work. Now, the next chapter of her distinguished career finds her exploring a little known side of the music of Peggy Lee.To hear Mary sing, is, as Velvet Thunder said, “to be at the core of the human heart”. It was a voice which first came to wide attention in 1985, when Mary burst onto the Irish music scene with her debut album, Tired and Emotional. That album led to appearances on The Late Late Show, a hit single with ‘Delaney’s Gone Back On The Wine’, and tours of Britain, Germany, and Holland.She followed that explosive release with Under The Influence (1987), Uncertain Pleasures (1990), and Sentimental Killer (1992), which firmly established her reputation as an unflinchingly honest, emotionally raw vocalist, never afraid to embrace the most difficult of subject matter in her work.As The Irish News said, she “doesn’t just take her audiences to church with her music, she practically baptises them with her passion and pain”.It was the same in her 2009 autobiography, Bloody Mary, where she documented addiction problems, relationship troubles, familial abuse, career mismanagement, suicide attempts, and dark days spent confined to psychiatric wards.Despite the difficulties she encountered, the music kept coming with Live In Galway (1996), After The Fall (1997), Mary Coughlan Sings Billie Holiday (2000), Long Honeymoon (2001), The House Of Ill Repute (2008), best of set, The Whole Affair (2012), released the same year she enjoyed a sold out show at Sydney Opera House, and Live & Kicking (2017).Mary is also no stranger to the big screen, having appeared in two films by acclaimed Irish director Neil Jordan – 1988’s High Spirits with Peter O Toole, Daryl Hannah, and Donal McCann, and 2005’s Breakfast on Pluto with Cillian Murphy and Stephen Rea.More recently, theatre has become another stage for Mary’s talents. In 2019, her early life was dramatised in Woman Undone, a “profoundly moving, brave, and beautiful fusion of theatre, music, and dance” (Galway Advertiser), created by Mary and the award-winning Irish theatre company Brokentalkers, in collaboration with Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurdsson, and movement director Eddie Kaye.Now sober for close to 30 years, the mother of five and grandmother of six, reached new peaks as a performer and songwriter with her most recent album, 2020’s acclaimed Life Stories.By turns powerful, swaggering, sexy, harrowingly raw, and deeply honest, Life Stories runs the full gamut of both music and emotions, from cabaret (‘High Heel Boots’) to late night jazz balladry (‘Elbow Deep’, ‘No Jericho ) to some of the most exuberant pop oriented songs Mary has yet recorded (‘Forward Bound’, ‘Steps Forward’).Released via the artist’s own label, Hail Mary Records, it reached No 1 on iTunes and Amazon; garnered five star reviews from Music Republic, Get Ready To Rock, and Musicriot.com. The Sunday Times Ireland said, “rarely has an album referenced a life so pointedly”, while The Daily Mail rightly said it was created by “a consummate talent at the top of her game”.To cap it all, in 2020, Mary was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the then Mayor of Galway, Mike Cubbard.Never one to sit still, Mary is now planning her most ambitious project to date. While she has covered Billie Holiday, Joy Division, and The Blue Nile in the past, she intends to reimagine the album Peggy Lee made with the pioneering rock’n’roll songwriters Lieber and Stoller, composers of such songs as ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Jailhouse Rock’.The album, Mirrors, described by Allmusic.com as “intelligent, evocative, understated, and mature”, explored themes of murder, madness, despair, longing, and the rise of Fascism in the USA. Mary has been eager to work on this project for many years, but it was during lockdown that the opportunity presented itself. This has led her to work with musicians and visual artists to create what will be an immersive, multimedia, experience.What a way for Mary to mark her oncoming fifth decade in music.
Newbridge
Sat 15 May 2027, 8:00pm – 10:00pm
Anne Gildea – You’re Welcome
She’s back and raring to go. So come along for a night of pure entertainment and expect to laugh yourself giddy at Anne’s unique take on everything under the sun and over the moon.From New York to Moate, Anne Gildea has been making audiences laugh for decades. Formerly as one of The Nualas, most recently with her hit shows Further Adventures in Womaning and How to Get the Menopause and Enjoy It. She is one of Ireland’s longest-performing female comedians, and up there with the tallest too.“Side-splittingly funny. ****” Reviews Hub“Wackily original…must see!” The New York Times“World class.” The Sunday Times, London“Genius. *****” The Scotsman
Newbridge