This week, Waterford transforms into a city of imagination as Imagine Arts Festival 2025 opens across the city from Tuesday 21st to Sunday 26th October, bringing nearly 40 events of theatre, music, dance, visual art, installations and family fun.
The festival gets underway on Tuesday with the first in the new Women of Waterford Walking Tours, departing from Railway Square at 1:00 PM. Led by local historian Breda Murphy, the tour celebrates remarkable women who helped shape Waterford’s story — a fitting start to a week that honours creativity, courage and community.
Later that evening, playwright Hannah Carberry presents How Is Everyone Doing? at 6:00 PM in St Patrick’s Gateway, a rehearsed reading of a new play exploring loneliness, community and Irish folklore. At 7:00 PM, photographer Eoin Ronayne launches his exhibition Retro 40: On a Night Like This at Jordan’s Bar, revisiting the artists and musicians who defined Waterford’s cultural explosion of the 1980s. And rounding out the opening night, Waterford’s own Keith Dunphy takes to the stage at Garter Lane with his acclaimed one-man show Word Against the Word — a powerful story of dyslexia, identity and ambition told through the lens of Shakespeare and home.
Midweek highlights include Hero/Banlaoch by Sinéad O’Brien and Wandering Stories Theatre at Phil Grimes’ Pub on Thursday, a raw and lyrical storytelling performance that reimagines ancient Irish myths through a modern lens. On Saturday morning, the festival’s favourite early tradition, Booze, Blaas & Banter, returns to Jordan’s Bar from 9 AM – 1:30 PM, blending music, poetry, local history and (of course) blaas.
Families can look forward to Shadow Lands, a multi-disciplinary theatre show for children combining shadow puppetry, animation and a stunning fusion of Indonesian and Irish music. It runs on Sunday at 12 PM and 2 PM in the Medieval Museum, alongside a newly commissioned installation, Creative Transparency by Waiting Space, which transforms the museum into an immersive sound and light experience exploring creativity and vulnerability.
And on Friday night, Ballybricken’s pub scene will come thrillingly alive with The Legendary Dead Pub Trail — a one-of-a-kind live performance experience that moves through some of Waterford’s most iconic pubs. Expect a mix of music, theatre and mischief as the troupe “raise the dead” for one last round, turning familiar venues into unexpected stages for unforgettable moments, kicking off at 8PM from Nicky’s Bar, onto The Tap Room, The Exchange, The Tavern Pub and ending with a big party at Downes’ Bar with a full DJ set!.
The festival also features the Residency Showcase with dancer Ksenia Parkhatskaya and composer David Duffy on Saturday 25th October at 6 PM, and closes on Sunday night (8 PM) with a brand-new musical commission from Phil Christie (The Bonk) at Garter Lane Arts Centre — a hypnotic exploration of rhythm, repetition and improvisation that promises a mesmerising finale.
Many events are free, and the full programme is available at 👉 www.imagineartsfestival.com/2025-programme.
So whether it’s a walk through Waterford’s history, a morning of music and blaas, or a night of world-class performance, this week the city invites everyone to Imagine.
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