Quiet Lights Festival
Various Venues
Thu 20 Nov 2025 - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Featuring MARTIN HAYES • JOHN FRANCIS FLYNN • AOIFE NESSA FRANCES • ELAINE HOWLEY • EOGHAN Ó CEANNABHÁIN • AOIFE NÍ BHRÍAIN • RACHAEL LAVELLE • CINDER WELL • MOLLY O'MAHONY • THE BONK • POOR CREATURE • ELAINE MALONE • RAELACH RECORDS • MYLES O'REILLY'S AMBIENT PHARMACY • DIARMUID Ó MEACHAIR • MÁIRE CARROLL • NIAMH BURY • ORA COGAN • CUAR • NIAMH O'BRIEN • MATTHEW XAVIER CORRIGAN • SLAPBANG
As the hush of autumn falls, Islander announce the 5th iteration of their winter festival, Quiet Lights, taking place in venues across Cork City, from the 24th - 27th November 2022.
Quiet Lights is an exciting and well-loved winter festival with a big heart, which aims to shine a light on the new wave of Irish and International folk, traditional, and experimental talent that are quietly forging new paths, recollecting old tales, and creating new stories.
Highlights this year include Martin Hayes and John Francis Flynn, presented with festival partners Live at St. Luke’s. “We’re delighted to have an icon of traditional music like Martin, as well as one
of the most exciting folk artists in a generation in John, as two of the bigger shows at Quiet Lights this year.”
The festival has a special focus on Raelach Records this year, to acknowledge the very significant impact the label has had on Irish traditional music. Expect a fantastic free lunchtime concert at UCC in association with FUAIM, curated by label founder Jack Talty, on the Friday of the festival.
Quiet Lights’ usual fare of presenting the best in upcoming folk & traditional music is the main strand throughout the festival again this year. They welcome artists Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin & Aoife Nessa Frances who both have new albums on the way. The programme also features very exciting international artists such as Ora Cogan (Canada) and Cinder Well (USA).
As well as their usual folk and traditional programming, Quiet Lights continue to showcase exciting contemporary and experimental music in Cork. Máire Carroll performs a concert of Philip Glass’ Etudes on the Triskel’s beautiful Steinway piano as the festival’s opening show this year. SlapBang (Lina Andonovska & Matthew Jacobson) and Cúar (Neil Ó Loclainn) bringing some experimental brilliance to plugd records, as well as some of the most ground-breaking artists and bands in Ireland coming to town such as The Bonk and Rachael Lavelle.
It has been a main priority of Quiet Lights to incorporate more ambient music into the programme, and this year they present Myles O’Reilly’s Ambient Pharmacy at St Peter’s - where Myles and his fellow artists Simon O’Reilly and Gareth Quinn Redmond will create a 3 hour soundbath on the Sunday of the festival that people can wander in and out of as they wish. Admission is free and all are welcome.
Quiet Lights also leans on the immense talent we have locally in Cork. Molly O’Mahony is launching her new record, and stalwarts Elaine Malone and Elaine Howley amongst others on the line-up representing the place we call home.
A full line-up of talks and conversations are to be announced soon also.
Tickets are on sale now at www.quietlights.net
