The Jonathan Swift Festival

The Jonathan Swift Festival is back for 2026! Join us for this year's Jonathan Swift Festival to celebrate the life and works of Jonathan Swift, the renowned satirist and author of “Gulliver's Travels.” The festival includes a range of events including lectures, performances, and guided walks that explore his influence on literature and satire. This year we will be celebrating 300 years of Gulliver's Travels!

Highlights include And Then There Was Gulliver, a new stage musical by Gerry Mullins based on real events in Jonathan Swift’s life as he wrote his masterpiece. The hilarious new show will take place on Thursday 26 November and will include the story behind the publication of Gulliver’s Travels, which was so controversial that it was never published under Swift’s name at the time.

On Wednesday 25 November, Focus Ireland will host a special charity Christmas concert, bringing together choirs and musicians for an uplifting evening of music and song while raising vital funds to help end child homelessness, a cause reflecting the compassion for society’s most vulnerable that was central to Swift’s life and legacy.

Rascals Brewery will host Craicademia on Wednesday 18 November, featuring Dr Brendan Twomey, Harry Burton and James Anderson for an evening of short, entertaining talks inspired by the wonderfully strange world of Gulliver’s Travels.

On Thursday 19 November, the Cathedral will host Gulliver’s Gala Dinner, an immersive four-course dinner with each course inspired by one of Gulliver’s four worlds, accompanied by live music, storytelling and theatrical surprises.

London Concertante will perform A Baroque Christmas on Friday 27 November featuring music from Swift’s era. The festival concludes on Saturday 28 November with Jonathan and the Jest, a guided walk through Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and Marsh’s Library in which a theatrical encounter will see Jonathan Swift step into the present.

This year’s programme features numerous family and children’s events including a Gulliver’s Travels Drawing Workshop on Monday 23 November and Gulliver’s Travels Storytelling events on Saturday 21 November.