Tread Softly Festival is a unique arts festival based in County Sligo, where landscape, mythology, and contemporary creativity come together. Set against the dramatic backdrop of the northwest of Ireland, the festival invites audiences to experience art not just in venues, but across the natural environment itself.
A defining feature of Tread Softly is its use of place as a stage. Performances and installations often unfold in outdoor locations, from coastal landscapes to historic sites, encouraging audiences to move through the environment in a thoughtful and immersive way. This approach reflects the festival’s ethos: to engage deeply with both culture and nature while leaving a light footprint.
Tread Softly Festival continues to evolve as a celebration of creativity, place, and shared experience, offering something quietly powerful for those who encounter it.
Tread Softly Festival Sat 22 – Sun 30 August 2026
⚘ With commissioned exhibitions Constellation by Walker and Walker & Earthly Basin of Attraction by Rebecca Jobson
⚘ A live art event Battle of Moytirra by Wayne O’Connor
⚘ Podcasts Shifting Borders of Memory hosted by Sean Golden interviewing Cathy Jordan, Harry Keaney, Gregory Daley & Heather Laird
⚘ Talks Sky, Stone, Syllable curated by Padraig Meehan with Isolde Carmody, Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Leo Enright
⚘ Film Monk by Bettina Seitz showing at The Old Schoolhouse, Mullaghmore; Holy Hill Hermitage, Skreen; and Abhainn Studio, Eniscrone
⚘ Walking Art Tours led by Leonora Neary
⚘ Tread Softly Walks led by Eddie O’Gorman (Streedagh Beach), Michael Bell (Doorley Park), Jacinta Gormley (Aughris), Beatrice MacDonald (Hazelwood) & Robert Hensey (Knocknarea)
⚘ Two public engagement events Imprints with sculptors Barra Cassidy, Seamus Dunbar & Bettina Seitz; and Meitheal
For more information and to sign up and book please go to www.treadsoftly.ie
*A biennial festival programming new work from artists living in the North West of Ireland
Stone, Sky, Syllable
A series of talks / interviews with Pádraig Meehan and guests centred on the Sligo megalithic landscape.
Pádraig’s guests are: Isolde Carmody, Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Leo Enright
DATES:
Sun 23 Aug 8pm Talk I with Isolde Carmody
Wed 26 Aug 8pm Talk II with Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich
Fri 28 Aug 8pm Talk III with Leo Enright
VENUE:
The Factory Performance Space
BOOKING:
€10/Booking advisable through www.treadsoftly.ie
