At Ards Arts Centre · Newtownards, County Down
Only the published dates are confirmed for this programme.
Ards Puppet Festival transforms Ards Arts Centre in Newtownards into a weekend of puppetry on Sunday, 25 and Monday, 26 October 2026.
The programme mixes puppet theatre shows with a puppet exhibition and hands-on puppet-making workshops across the two days, running at Ards Arts Centre in Newtownards town centre. Individual event times vary through the programme, so check with the Arts Centre for the full schedule before travelling.
Ards Arts Centre is in Newtownards, County Down. By car, Newtownards is about 25 minutes from Belfast on the A20, and 15 minutes from Bangor on the A21. Translink’s Ulsterbus 5 and 5f run from Belfast Laganside to Newtownards Bus Station several times an hour, a journey of around 40 minutes. There is no direct train; the nearest stations are Bangor and Belfast Lanyon Place, with a bus onward from either.
Newtownards sits at the head of Strangford Lough, with Scrabo Tower, a 41-metre Scottish Baronial folly built in 1857, running the skyline above the town. The Saturday market has traded in Conway Square since the 1770s, under the six-arched Town Hall built 1767-1771. The town’s older history is quieter: Saint Finnian founded Movilla Abbey on a hill above the lough in 540 AD, a monastery the Vikings later sacked and Henry VIII eventually shut down, with a cemetery and a few standing walls still there off the Movilla Road. More on Newtownards and the rest of Co. Down.
Heading to Ards Arts Centre in Newtownards? Down has plenty more to see. Read the Newtownards area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
We do not yet have a suitable Down tour in our reviewed collection that starts locally. Use the IrelandMe tour finder to compare bookable experiences for the rest of your trip.