William Kennedy Piping Festival

09/04/2026

We're back! Armagh Pipers Club is relaunching the William Kennedy Piping Festival after last year's scaled-down William Kennedy Weekend. The 31st edition of the Festival, featuring will take place in Armagh city from Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th November 2026. We're still putting the programme together so watch this space! Thanks to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council for funding, and to our local sponsors including The Hole in the Wall Bar and the Charlemont Arms Hotel.

06/03/2026

Armagh Pipers Club

Co-ordinator, £32,000/year

Music education charity seeks a general manager capable of providing comprehensive administrative support, including funder liaison, to a programme of weekly classes, occasional concerts and other events. Average 35 hours/week, including some evening/weekend working. Must have excellent MS Office and social media skills, good communicator, passionate about music. Previous experience in the arts sector, management or education an advantage. Closing date 31st March, interviews week commencing 13th April. Job description, person specification and details of how to apply: see armaghpipers.com/co-ordinator

Please feel free to repost or otherwise publicise this opportunity.

16/11/2025

While you are all welcome to post here, this page is not actively managed. The WKPF finished in 2024 after 30 magnificent but seriously under-funded years, and this 2025 William Kennedy Weekend has been but a tribute act. It has, even so, been a great experience with Lúnasa in concert with support from WKPF favourites Lagrange/Rutkowski and Tejedor, and a schools concert, lots of sessions, and a learned lecture. THANKS to everyone who came, especially to those who came from the mainland - Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, France, Spain...

All of this is run by a tiny charity, Armagh PipersClub, so if you want to keep up to date, follow that page and contact the Club if you have doubts or questions about anything posted elsewhere, such as the current scam postings from Pakistan about an alleged 2026 WKPF.

28/10/2025

27/08/2025

The William Kennedy Weekend is really taking off! Armagh PipersClub has around 200 students, the total capacity of the Armagh City Hotel Fringe Lounge is 250, and we're already getting lots of orders from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Keady, the USA and even Tyrone. We are definitely looking at a sell-out given that our teaching year is still a fortnight away, and we will promote it non-stop to our members. If you want to get to the Lúnasa concert, book now at armaghpipers.com! If you lose out on the big concert there are lots of pub/hotel/cultúrlann sessions from 13 to 16 November.
It's not the Festival - but it's a great tribute act.

Armagh Pipers Club, a charity founded in 1966 to teach and promote Irish traditional music, currently offering 31 classes per week.