Following the success of this summer’s festival, Horizon Festival Ballybunion will return from Friday, July 2nd to Sunday, July 4th, 2027, with organisers already working on plans to make next year’s event bigger and better.
The first Horizon Festival brought thousands of people into Ballybunion for three days of live music and entertainment, with the Big Top quickly becoming the centrepiece of the weekend. For the organisers, the response both during and after the festival made the decision to begin planning for 2027 an easy one.
“We were genuinely blown away by the support Horizon received in its first year. There was a brilliant atmosphere around the festival site and throughout Ballybunion for the entire weekend. We learned a huge amount from year one and we’re putting all of that into making 2027 an even better event.”
One of the biggest developments for next summer will be the expansion of the festival site itself. The Horizon Big Top will return, but this time it will be joined by it’s baby brother with another covered performance arena. The new addition will allow organisers to increase the amount of entertainment throughout each day, with more than 20 acts planned across the three-day festival.
Work on the line-up has already begun and a number of acts have been secured, although organisers are keeping those names under wraps for now.
“There is a lot happening behind the scenes already. We’ve listened to the feedback from this year and there are things we want to build on, as well as some completely new ideas. Adding the second arena is a big part of that and it gives us much more scope with the line-up and the overall festival experience.”
While Horizon is growing, the organisers say keeping the festival firmly connected to Ballybunion remains at the heart of the plans. The combination of a festival atmosphere, the town centre location and Ballybunion’s seaside setting proved particularly popular this summer. The weekend also brought a significant number of visitors into the town, benefiting local accommodation, pubs, restaurants, cafés and other businesses.
“We want Horizon to become a weekend that people associate with Ballybunion every summer. The setting we have here is very difficult to replicate and we want to build an event that brings people to the town from Kerry and further afield, while still keeping the character that made the first year so enjoyable.”
People who want to be part of Horizon 2027 won’t have to wait as a limited number of Early Bird tickets are now on sale through Eventbrite.
Demand for the first festival’s Early Bird release was extremely strong, with the allocation selling out in just one hour. Organisers are expecting another busy morning and are encouraging anyone hoping to secure the best-priced tickets to be ready for the 8:30am release. Once the Early Bird allocation is gone, tickets will move to the next general sale phase. There will be plenty more to come between now and next July, with the first line-up announcements and further details on the expanded festival planned over the coming months.
“This is really only the start of the 2027 journey. We have some great acts already secured and plenty more work going on in the background. After seeing what Ballybunion created around Horizon this summer, we’re really excited to see where we can take it next year.”
Horizon Festival Ballybunion takes place from Friday, July 2nd to Sunday, July 4th, 2027. Early Bird tickets go on sale at 8:30am this Friday, August 21st through Eventbrite.
