Big names confirmed for October cultural festival in Mayo
Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, Niall Breslin and the Polaris Quartet, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Roesy, FeliSpeaks and Kevin McGahern are among the cultural figures and performers taking part in West X West in Castlebar on October 15 and 16 next.
Across two days and two nights, West X West will bring technology, business and culture together through panel discussions, keynote interviews and 18 live performances spanning music, comedy and spoken word.
Bill Whelan will participate in a special cultural interview exploring creativity, innovation and Ireland’s influence on the international stage.
The evening programme will unfold across the Linenhall Theatre, Christ Church and Bridge Street, transforming Castlebar into a festival setting where conversations from the daytime programme continue through live performance and shared cultural experiences.
On Thursday, October 15, Niall Breslin and the Polaris Quartet will perform at the Linenhall Theatre, while Liam Ó Maonlaí will appear at Christ Church. Bridge Street will host Roesy,
FeliSpeaks and Áine Gordon, with Kevin McGahern as MC, followed later by The Labourers, Seán O’Meara and a Daft Punk tribute.
The Friday programme will include Pilgrims at the Linenhall Theatre; Róisín El Cherif and Dani Larkin at Christ Church; and performances from Emmet O’Brien, Daragh Fleming and Driven Snow at Bridge Street, hosted by comedian Ger Staunton.
The festival will conclude with Slyrydes, Ispíní na hÉireann and the West X West All-Stars.
The daytime programme will also explore the role of creativity, sport and culture in Ireland’s economy and international reputation.
John Crumlish, CEO of Galway International Arts Festival, and Willie Ruane, CEO of Connacht Rugby, will join Naoise Nunn for a keynote conversationentitled Scrums and Stages: How Sport and Culture Became the West’s Best Economic Argument.
Derek O’Doherty, founder of West X West, said: “Culture is not an addition to West X West; it is central to the experiential nature of what we’re creating by bringing these people together in the west.
“The most interesting conversations often happen when people from different worlds come together.
"By bringing founders, investors, enterprise leaders, artists and cultural voices into the same festival, we are creating the opportunity for much deeper connections that simply cannot happen within just another traditional business or tech conference.
“The cultural programme each evening facilitates those conversations to continue across Castlebar long after the daytime panels and debates have subsided.”
West X West will also feature 50 speakers and nine panels examining Agentic AI, cybersecurity, MedTech investment, international scaling, global exits, automation and the emerging commercial space economy.
The festival takes place in Castlebar on 15–16 October 2026.
Individual cultural-event tickets, day passes and two-day festival passes are available.
The complete cultural programme and tickets are available here.