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PURE Limerick community arts festival comes to Limerick City for February 20 and 21, 2026

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PURE Limerick community arts festival comes to Limerick City for February 20 and 21, 2026. Photograph by Eamon Ward

14 local arts organisations came together to launch PURE Limerick, the City’s first multi-artform community arts festival

PURE Limerick was launched at the Hunt Museum on Tuesday, November 18. Photograph by Eamon Ward
PURE Limerick was launched at the Hunt Museum on Tuesday, November 18. Photograph by Eamon Ward

Excitement was building at the Hunt Museum on Tuesday, November 18, for the launch of Limerick City’s first multi-artform community arts festival, PURE Limerick, set to take place on February 20 and 21, 2026.

PURE Limerick will boast the city centre locations of participating arts organisations, providing the communities with whom they collaborate a platform to showcase their work. Festival goers can also expect a wealth of opportunities to create and enjoy art alongside some of Limerick’s most talented artists.

Collaboration is at the heart of PURE Limerick, which aims to maximise community participation in the arts. The confirmed festival programme already includes workshops and performances across visual arts, including painting, screen printing and ceramics, alongside performing arts, including music, theatre, dance and circus, creative writing, acting and much more.


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Speaking on behalf of Limerick City Partnership, Michael Gleeson explained how PURE Limerick Community Arts Festival came about.

He said, “It started as an open discussion among a group of arts-based social enterprises on how we could collaborate, and we quickly realised that we had a huge opportunity to showcase the wide range of community arts activities available in the City.”

PURE Limerick Festival Chairperson, Maria Cagney, Hunt Museum, and Michael Gleeson, Limerick City Partnership, enjoy the acrobatic moves of Belén Vergara Amado, Irish Aerial Creation Centre. Photograph by Eamon Ward

So far, there are 14 community arts organisations contributing to the festival programme and the group says they are keen to hear from others who would like to get involved.

Access to the arts is one of the new festival’s main objectives. According to Maria Cagney, the Hunt Museum and Festival Chairperson, “Self-expression through participation in the arts is a fundamental human right yet so many people in Limerick struggle to access these opportunities. We are keen to demonstrate that the arts are for everyone. Whether its hip hop or chamber music, paint punch or pottery, we think there really is something for everyone in the PURE Limerick Festival.”

The local arts organisations contributing to the PURE Limerick Festival include; The Hunt Museum, The GAFF, The Belltable – Lime Tree Theatre, Moyross Youth Academy, Learning Hub Limerick, The College Players, Dóchas Autism Midwest through the Athas Print Studio, Bluebox Creative Art Therapies Centre, King’s Island Community, Dance Limerick, Irish Chamber Youth Orchestra, LCETB Creative Youth Project and Irish Arial Creation Centre.

Over two days, PURE Limerick will operate as a trail across Limerick City Centre with participation opportunities easily accessible along the way.  Everyone is welcome to join in, try something new and enjoy all that our local arts have to offer. The organisers actively encourage people from every community and background to get involved.

The PURE Limerick Festival has received generous support from the Arts Council Festival Investment Scheme and are now appealing to Limerick’s business community for additional assistance to help fully realise the festival’s potential. A special thanks to Studio GBM for the in-kind support that they have already provided to the festival.

Pictured James Blake, the Learning Hub; Maria Cagney, Hunt Museum; Richie Hannafin, Moyross Youth Academy; Lara Grufferty, Dochas Autism Midwest; Michael Gleeson, Limerick City Partnership; and Abby Selser, Hunt Museum, attended the launch of PURE Limerick Community Arts Festival. Photograph by Eamon Ward
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