Culture Night Gallery Talk: Memory of a Free Festival

What to Expect

For Culture Night 2026, Wexford Arts Centre opens late and runs a guided tour of its current exhibition, Memory of a Free Festival. The talk starts at 6:30 PM on Friday 18 September, with the building open from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM either side of it. Admission is free but booking is essential, as the tour is capped.

The exhibition looks at the Carnsore Point anti-nuclear festivals held in Wexford between 1978 and 1981, gatherings that drew thousands of people opposed to Ireland’s proposed first nuclear power plant. Beyond the music and the lectures, those festivals ran workshops and exhibitions of their own, and the show reconstructs that world through a mix of new and archival material. On display are works by Orla Barry, Brian Duggan and Alanna O’Kelly, archival photographs by Derek Speirs, and documents from the Irish Anti-Nuclear Movement. A guided walk-through is the most useful way to see it, since much of the archive material rewards context that the wall labels cannot carry.

Good to Know

• Date: Friday 18 September 2026, Culture Night.
• Gallery talk at 6:30 PM. Late opening 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
• Venue: Wexford Arts Centre, Cornmarket, Wexford town.
• Free, but booking is essential.
• Book on 053 912 3764 or through the Wexford Arts Centre website.
• The exhibition itself runs 8 August to 3 October 2026 during normal gallery hours, Tuesday to Friday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Getting There

Wexford Arts Centre stands in the Cornmarket in the pedestrianised centre of Wexford town, a few minutes’ walk from the quay front. Drive in on the N11 from Dublin and Gorey or the N25 from New Ross and Rosslare Europort. Wexford O’Hanrahan station, on the Dublin Connolly to Rosslare Europort line, is around ten minutes away on foot. Culture Night draws crowds into the town centre, so the quay front car parks are the safer bet, and many venues within a short walk run events on the same evening.