Greetings from Safe Harbour
Cork has a proper spread this week
Tom Creed's staging of 4.48 Psychosis lands at Cork Arts Theatre with Marty Rea. The Sound of Music keeps packing the Opera House while Schull Regatta takes over the pier for the weekend.
Hermitage Green play a converted church in Ballycotton, Son Solar bring the salsa to Cyprus Avenue, there's a record fair and outdoor sessions at Marina Market, and Triskel starts a month of Tim Burton with Beetlejuice.
This is our pick of what's on this week. For a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
4.48 Psychosis
Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 August · Cork Arts Theatre
Sarah Kane finished this play shortly before her death in 1999, and it remains one of the most unflinching things ever written for a stage. Tom Creed, one of Cork's finest theatre-makers, directs Belfast actor Marty Rea in a spare new staging that's been described as radical, intimate and darkly funny, which is exactly the balance this text needs. Three nights only, and work of this calibre rarely sits in a room this small. Go.
The Sound of Music
Runs to Sunday 23 August · 19:00 most evenings · Cork Opera House
The Opera House summer musical is a Cork institution at this point, and this year's is a big one: Classical Brit nominee Wendy Carr as Maria, West End regular Matt Blaker as the Captain, and Majella Cullagh as the Mother Abbess, directed by Davey Kelleher. Saturday's 2pm show is ISL interpreted and already sold out, and several other dates are down to last few seats. If you're waiting for a quiet week to book, it isn't coming.
Schull Regatta Festival
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August · Schull Pier
Two full free days on the water and the pier: raft races, tug of war, crab fishing, net mending, a heaving line competition, live music and regatta soccer. It's the kind of unpolished seaside weekend that most towns lost decades ago and Schull never did. If you've been meaning to get to West Cork this summer, this is your excuse.
Son Solar
Friday 7 August · doors 19:00 · Cyprus Avenue
Salsa, son and Afro-Cuban rhythms from the band with a fair claim to being Ireland's best Latin act. Cyprus Avenue turns into a dance floor for this one whether you planned to dance or not. Bring someone who claims they don't.
Hermitage Green
Friday 7 August · 20:00 · Sea Church
The Limerick five-piece in Sea Church, the converted church above the harbour in Ballycotton, which might be the best-sounding small venue in the county for exactly this kind of harmony-heavy folk rock. A summer Friday gig that comes with a spin down to Ballycotton attached is no hardship either. Book ahead; the room is small.
Summer Sessions
Saturday 8 August · 16:00 to 18:00 · Marina Market
DJs and live musicians outdoors at Marina Market, with reggae, dub and jazz on the speakers, live graffiti on the walls, and slots given to young local performers alongside the established names. A very easy Saturday afternoon: wander in, eat something, let it happen around you.
Strings and Things
Saturday 8 August · 22:00 · Dwyers of Cork
High-energy contemporary folk from a Tipperary and Galway outfit that treats genre lines as suggestions. A late Saturday slot in Dwyers suits them: this is music built for a full pub at 11pm, not a seated theatre. Land in early and stay put.
American Utopia
Wednesday 5 August · Briery Gap
Spike Lee's film of David Byrne's Broadway show, back in cinemas in 4K this month. Macroom getting it the same week as the Dublin art houses is a quiet win for the Briery Gap, and on a big screen with the sound up it's the next best thing to having been there. Check the venue for the exact screening time.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Friday 7 August · 20:00 · Briery Gap / Saturday 8 August · 19:30 · St Catherine's, Kinsale
John O'Mahony performs Coleridge's poem solo for The Hungry Grass Theatre Company, an hour of storytelling, music and atmosphere directed by Sue Hill that reviewers have called a tour de force. An albatross, a curse and a ghost ship, told by one man in a dark room: this is theatre stripped back to the thing that has always worked. €22 in Macroom on Friday, Kinsale on Saturday, suitable for ages 11 and up.
Beetlejuice
Saturday 8 August · 19:00 · Triskel Arts Centre
The opener of The Fantastical Cinema of Tim Burton, a season running Burton's first five films on consecutive Saturday nights through August. Michael Keaton's bio-exorcist remains one of the great unhinged screen performances, and Triskel's church setting is a properly strange room to watch it in. €11, or €8.50 for members.
Comedy Cavern: Maanadh, From Mumbai to Cork-bai
Tuesday 11 August · 21:00 · Coughlan's
Maanadh headlines the Comedy Cavern with a show about landing in Cork by way of Mumbai, in the back room of Coughlan's on Douglas Street. The Cavern runs on free entry and pay-what-you-think-it-was-worth at the end, which keeps every act honest. One of the best value nights in the city, every single Tuesday.
Artists Film International 2026
From Tuesday 11 August · from 10:00 · Triskel Christchurch
A global artists' film programme, shown simultaneously by partner institutions around the world, this year examining how power shapes who gets looked at and how. It's free, it runs during the day, and it rewards wandering in for twenty minutes as much as staying for the lot. The Georgian church interior does half the curating for you.
Cork City Record Fair
Saturday 8 August · 10:30 to 17:00 · Marina Market
Up to 50 tables of vinyl, CDs, tapes and memorabilia from traders all over Ireland, plus private sellers, in the middle of the food stalls at Marina Market. The organisers buy collections too, so the box of records in your attic finally has somewhere to go. Get there before noon for the good crates.
Needle Felting Workshop
Saturday 8 August · 14:00 · St Peter's Cork
A hands-on wool felting session with artist Emily Thompson in the deconsecrated medieval church on North Main Street, landing right in the middle of Cork Craft Month. Two hours of stabbing wool with a needle turns out to be strangely calming. Places at these St Peter's workshops go quickly, so book rather than chance it.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Cork check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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