Ireland’s coolest small music festival returns to Cork this summer (and tickets are live)
It was a huge hit last year.
Now music lovers are in for another dreamy summer escape in Fermoy as Another Love Story, recently crowned IMRO Best Small Live Music Festival 2024/25, returns to East Cork with the second edition of its roaming mini festival series, Love Is A Stranger: Ballyvolane House.
The boutique festival promises a weekend packed with live music and laid-back summer energy, plus a very special dining and cocktail experience from Cork sensation Cold Cuts.
The festival opens on Friday, July 17th, with Donal Dineen’s immersive Backstory alongside the dreamy sounds of Senior Infants, setting the tone for the weekend.
Saturday’s programme moves effortlessly between emerging Irish talent and established favourites, with performances from Sorcha Richardson, Alex Gough, Jean Pack, Fixity and Lil Skag, while theatre and spoken-word elements add another layer to the experience. A special collaboration with The Baltimore Fiddle Fair sees John Spillane & The Band of Wrens and Caoilte Ó Cuanigh take centre stage for the Sunday closing concerts.
Elsewhere, the DJ line-up promises everything from cosmic grooves to late-night leftfield sounds, featuring Move D and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy alongside a stacked cast of homegrown favourites and the ever-reliable ALS Shift Shack Soundsystem keeping the party flowing.
Festival-goers can expect a carefully curated line-up of contemporary Irish and international artists performing across a range of atmospheric spaces dotted throughout the grounds of the historic Ballyvolane House estate.
Organsiers say “One of the great thrills of the Love Is A Stranger series is having a platform to do a deep dive into the local music scenes in the new locations we find ourselves – and Cork, with its rich and storied history as a hub of music creation and expression – has provided incredibly rich pickings – with that we are so delighted to welcome a treasure trove of artists from Ireland and further afield who will perform at Love Is A Stranger: Ballyvolane House 2026.”
Love is a Stranger will also welcome programme contributions from The Ambient Orbit (RTE Lyric FM), The Baltimore Fiddle Fair.
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With immaculate vibes and a scenic East Cork setting, the festival looks set to be one of the standout boutique music events of the summer. Overnight camping tickets start at €75 over here.
