"The world would be a better place if these young people were leading it" – The Lit Festival back for its 9th Year.

Europe’s first youth-led festival of reading and writing returns to Waterford City for its ninth year from the 9^th-11^th October 2026. 

28 young people from across Waterford City & County have curated and built this year’s Lit Festival with Palestine, a United Ireland and activism on their minds.

Kicking off with Warrior Poet, Activist & Gaza Flotilla participant Mikey Cullen, the festival’s opening gala will be part Q&A, part screening part awards ceremony, with the presentation of The Ollie Award for Artistic Citizenship.

The programme contains a diverse range of events from workshops with nationally-acclaimed creatives like poet and editor of The Waxed Lemon Joanne McCarthy (Highly Commended for the 2025 Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award), Déise-native theatremaker Niamh Fennessy, Nina Peanut author Sarah Bowie, and Artistic Director of Aisling Children’s Arts Festival Darren Yorke. There will also be a workshop on spoken word given by Mikey Cullen.

One of the gems in the programme is the Mythmaking in Modern Ireland Q&A with Ruth Ennis (Shorelines, 2026) and Ellen Ryan (They Called Us Witch, 2026), moderated by The Lit Coorganisers in The Book Centre.

There will also be meet-and-greets, as well as the return of The Spark Open Mic with a Teenage Kicks twist in Little Lane Bookshop, a living poetry wall, a Clinic Leabhair session with Children’s Books Ireland, a Dungeons and Dragons takeover of Waterford Libraries, and more!

After several years, the festival has announced the return of the 8-12s programme in the form of the newly-named Litíní programme with Sarah Bowie leading a draw-along in Dubray Books on Sunday 11th October.

“It’s been a really amazing year – we’ve had our biggest cohort of young people in the history of The Lit, we’ve expanded our scope with the introduction of The Lit Summer School supported by Creative Waterford and Waterford City & County Libraries. It really is a gift to work alongside so many young people who care about where they’re from and bring people in to share creative experiences with them. I think the world would be a better place if these young people were leading it.” — Alana Daly Mulligan – Festival Coordinator

You can view the full programme here and purchase tickets on Eventbrite.

The Lit was founded by Waterford Youth Arts’ creative writing tutor Eimear Cheasty, Artistic Director Ollie Breslin, and Development Lead Cathy Hanrahan. Its pioneering approach to youth-led arts earned funding for civic engagement and international recognition at Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation Just Peace Summit in 2019. 

Supported by:	The Arts Council, Creative Waterford & Waterford Youth Arts
Media Partner:	RTÉ Supporting the Arts
Additional sponsorship:	Waterford Council, Dubray
Accommodation Partner:	The Waterford Marina Hotel
Venue Partners:	Waterford Libraries, Little Lane Bookshop, The Book Centre & St Patrick’s Gateway Centre.