Weather among the highlights at Wicklow festival headlined by Father John Misty and Mike D of Beastie Boys
People enjoying themselves during a performance by Prymary Colours on the last day of the 2026 Beyond the Pale festival in Glendalough estate, Co Wicklow. Photograph: Alan Betson
Mon Jun 15 2026 - 08:00 • 3 MIN READ
Some 12,500 music lovers landed on Glendalough estate in Co Wicklow on Friday for a weekend of live bands, DJ sets, camping and craic at Beyond the Pale . The first of the big summer camping music festivals in the packed Irish music calendar got plenty right this year, but wasn’t without lows.
HIGHS
Weather
Festivalgoers were blessed with sunny weather all weekend – kicking off with 19 degrees and bright sky on Friday and ending with 17 degrees and scattered clouds on Sunday. Not a single shower rained on fans – a fact that kept everyone in good spirits.
Princess Nokia’s bewitching set
The Puerto-Rican rapper delighted fans by performing her hits Spit and I Like Him in a set that coincided with her birthday. She also unexpectedly closed out her slot by playing B*witched’s C’est La Vie, much to the delight of her Irish fans.
Kojaque’s mosh pit
The Cabra’s man’s commanding energy and physical rapping style was a Saturday-night highlight, leading to a propulsive mosh pit in which each man was out for himself in headbanging glory.
Sisterly Love
Disco group Sister Sledge’s feel-good set had the crowd feeling the sisterly love.
People relax near the main stage on the last day of the 2026 Beyond the Pale festival in Co Wicklow. Photograph: Alan Betson
The age profile of festivalgoers
Beyond the Pale’s over-21s age policy means under 17s are permitted to attend with guardians over 25, but those aged between 18-21 cannot. The result was a relaxed, alcohol-experienced crowd, with far less messiness than at other festivals.
Sunday’s rousing line-up
There was a noticeable swell in crowd size on Sunday, reflecting the strongest line-up of any of the individual festival days. Mike D of Beastie Boys delivered a rip-roaring set, Madra Salach performed an excellent Neutral Milk Hotel cover, Of Monsters and Men dealt a nostalgic twee indie folk set, and Father John Misty wooed the crowd with his crooning as the closing main stage act.
Beyond the plate
Festival food offerings often consist of a sad tray of chips and an overcooked burger, but at Beyond the Pale, a full sit-down restaurant service was available with menus from Host in Ranelagh, Reggie’s in Rathmines and pop-up west African restaurant Ibile.
No phones filming concerts
Perhaps due to the age profile of the weekend cohort, and possibly because of the dodgy phone reception, screens were refreshingly absent all weekend.
[ Face it, the casual mob cares not if phones impinge on the audience experience of others Opens in new window ]
LOWS
Land of no deposit return
A frustrating aspect of the festival was that in spite of charging the additional 15 cent for cans under the Deposit Return Scheme, there was no way to recycle cans on site. A recycling facility where returns are donated to local initiatives could be a welcome solution.
Lack of phone reception
Phone reception for data and internet roaming was patchy at best – blackout when at its worst.
[ Beyond The Pale 2026 in pictures: from revellers to alpacas and rope darts Opens in new window ]
Windy campsites
While the weather was glorious, the concert arena was in the base of Glendalough estate’s valley and the campsite was on top of a hill, meaning that at night things got chilly for campers.
Daire Canavan, Ciaran Fitzgerald and Tom Higgins from Galway at Beyond the Pale.
Photograph: Alan Betson
€9 curry chips and €8 pints
Unfortunately it is to be expected when people are bringing you the wonders of hot food and cold drinks in the middle of a field but some of the food and drink prices stung, such as a €17.50 burrito, €9 curry chips and €8 pints.
Sunburn
The biggest caution from the medical tents at this year’s festival was to wear sunscreen and drink plenty of water after there were sightings of a few big Irish sunburned heads going around.
Arena access
Technical issues meant fans could not enter the main arena until 2pm on Saturday – delaying some of the craic.
IN THIS SECTION
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