Cambridge TradFest Returns in February 2026 – Plus Special Christmas Ticket Deals

After a sold-out debut, Cambridge TradFest will return for its second year from 6–8 February 2026, bringing a weekend of Irish music and dance back to the city.

Festival director Kevin Naughten is delighted to be continuing the festival’s momentum. “The response to our inaugural festival was beyond my wildest dreams,” he said. “I’m so excited to be doing it all again.”

The 2026 festival will be headlined by Irish trio The High Seas, who will feature prominently across the weekend. Alongside their headline concert on Sunday, the group will lead workshops in fiddle, concertina, banjo, singing, and percussive dance, and will also join in with the popular Saturday Session Trail.

That Session Trail was one of the highlights of last year’s festival, bringing together around 100 musicians. Alongside a strong contingent of local players, musicians travelled from across the UK, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Sheffield, as well as from Ballyclare in County Antrim. Pubs and cafés along Mill Road were filled with music throughout the day.

“The biggest feedback we received was that we needed more session space,” said Naughten. “This year we’ve doubled the number of venues, from four to at least eight, so there should be plenty of room for everyone to take part.”

What to Expect at Cambridge TradFest 2026

The weekend programme includes:

Friday: A Ceili with The Magogs Ceili Band
Saturday: Workshops, an expanded Session Trail, and a new Youth Showcase Concert
Sunday: The High Seas in concert

Tickets and Christmas Offers

Tickets for Cambridge TradFest 2026 are now on sale, with several special offers available until Christmas.

Free TradFest 2026 stickers can be added to all orders. Orders placed by 15 December will be posted the next working day and should arrive in time for Christmas.

Festival passes are also available, offering entry to the Friday Ceili, the Youth Showcase Concert, and The High Seas concert at a reduced overall price in a single booking.

For those planning to attend multiple workshops, a 15% discount is available when booking two workshops using the code EXTRACREDIT.

For tickets and further information, visit https://buytickets.at/cambridgetradfest/1776823/r/cce

A huge thank you to Cambridge Sustainable Food for keeping all of the Cambridge TradFest Ceili dancers fed. CSF can cater your next event too, and look out for their holiday lunches around Cambridge keeping everyone fed during school holidays.

Thanks to Cambridge Intelligence for their continued support of this local community event. If you’d like to help build some of the most powerful data visualisation tools available, they’re hiring for several roles.

Belfast TradFest, the pinnacle of world-class traditional music concerts, fiery pub sessions, and Ireland’s fastest growing summer school of traditional music, is set to celebrate its 8th edition across Belfast UNESCO City of Music on Sunday 26th July – Sunday 2nd August 2026. It features a week long programme of masterclasses and a full programme of concerts, talks, demonstrations, lectures, sessions, céilís & festival clubs.

A huge thank you to Hobgoblin Music for their continued and generous support of Cambridge TradFest. If you’re looking for folk instruments in the UK, they should be the first place you look!