Bualadh Bos Festival returns this October 2025

The Bualadh Bos Children’s Festival returns to Belltable and Lime Tree Theatre this October! Limerick’s only arts festival dedicated to young people features theatre, music, dance, film and magical encounters for all ages and interests.

Support our Pay It Forward campaign to help vulnerable children attend Bualadh Bos Festival, click here.

Download a copy of the Festival Programme here, or browse the schedule below.

• Revisiting the Banshee  – Michael Fortune & Aileen Lambert. Presented by The GAFF
  School Show | Tues 30 Sept, 10am & 12pm | Belltable
  Family Show | Fri 3 Oct, 6:30pm | Belltable
  Twenty years after The Banshee Lives in the Handball Alley won the hearts of audiences across Ireland and beyond, artists Michael Fortune and Aileen Lambert return with Revisiting the Banshee, a new collection of folklore on film featuring stories told by children from St. Mary’s School, Bishop St. and Thomond Primary School.
• Shimmer  – Anna Newell Theatre Adventures and Riverbank Arts Centre
  Thur 2 – Fri 3 Oct, 11am, 12pm & 2pm | Belltable
  Shimmer invites its audiences into an immersive reflective space created by Katie Davenport animated by a twinkling original score by David Goodall, gentle choreography by Hayley Earlam that responds to its individual tiny audience members and stunning wraparound video art by Conan McIvor.
• The Lonesome Boatman – Presented by Ouch Productions, Colm O’Grady
  Sat 4 Oct, 12pm | Lime Tree Theatre
  This is an outstanding circus theatre show for family audiences; a musical clown odyssey, which explores the themes of climate change in a humorous but thought-provoking way.
  
• Fen – Orla Clogher presents
  Family Show | Sun 5 Oct, 12pm | Belltable
  School Show | Mon 6 October, 9:30am & 11am | Belltable
  

  As the machines get closer and tear away the precious, wild landscape, Fen awakes and rises to save the last curlew egg nestled within it. With the fate of his home hanging in the balance he is guided on his mission by a playful little fox.

• The Shape of Quiet Feelings – Created by Maisie Lee
  Tue 7th Oct | 10am, 11.30am & 3.30pm | Belltable
  Wed 8th Oct | 10am, 11.30am & 12.30pm | Belltable
  The Shape of Quiet Feelings is an audio and visual experience followed by a responsive workshop, giving story and form to something that can sometimes feel scary and intangible. It hopes to empower children to consider new approaches to some of the big challenges presented by climate change and gives them the opportunity to create their own climate creature.
• The Little Prince – Presented by The Egg and Toby Thompson
  School Show | Wed 8 Oct, 11am | Belltable
  Family School | Wed 8 Oct, 6:30pm | Belltable
  Embark on a whimsical journey with the Little Prince as he travels the universe, searching for the true meaning of friendship. In a world where grown-ups have forgotten how to see with their hearts, he discovers beauty, wisdom and the importance of human connection.
• Boss Rob: A Masterclass for Aspiring Artists – Presented by Darren Yorke, Duffy Mooney Sheppard and Liam McCarthy
  School Show | Fri 10 Oct, 10am & 11:30am | Limerick City Gallery of Art
  Family Show | Sat 11 Oct, 2pm & 4pm | Limerick City Gallery of Art
  Boss Rob may be surprised (if he ever arrives) to discover children amid his ‘aspiring artists’. Combining spontaneous theatre, comedy, and a visual arts workshop, this show promotes fearless creativity and self-expression.
• Reverb – Luail
  School Show | Fri 10 Oct, 11am | Lime Tree Theatre
  Reverb features composer and multi-instrumentalist, Lisa Canny, this high-energy performance combines powerful physicality with spellbinding vocals, exploring how our actions ripple through time, leaving their mark. With Canny’s signature style driving the dancers, blending traditional and modern.
• Leaves – Branar
  School Show | Fri 10 Oct, 9:30am & 11:30am | Belltable
  Family Show | Sat 11 Oct, 12:30pm & 2:30pm | Belltable
  In the last year of its long life, an old oak tree delights in the emergence of a young sapling. The old oak, keen to share the benefits of its time on earth, watches, guides and nurtures the young sapling, teaching it to thrive, survive and be truly alive in the world, aided by some mischievous squirrels.
  
• Microworlds – Jazmína Piktorová & Sabina Bočková present in association with Dance Limerick
  Family Show | Sun 12, 1pm & 3pm | Dance Limerick
  School Show | Mon 13, 9:30am & 11:30am | Dance Limerick
  Our earth is full of worlds within worlds. Each of these microworlds lives its own unique life. Through micro-movements, body landscape, and small objects the performance focuses on tiny things in plain sight that are often overlooked.
  
• The Adventures of Shay Mouse: The Mouse from Longford – From the original novel by Pat McCabe. Adapted & performed by Shane Caroll and Pádraic McIntyre
  In your school
  Shay Mouse lived peacefully in Bornacoola Wood until an evil band of rats take it over and Shay is forced to leave in disgrace. He travels across the midlands where in a series of wonderful adventures he meets new friends and enemies. He eventually ends up in Dublin where he befriends Jack Russell but will they be able to rescue all his friends from Pat The Rat and his evil band back in Bornacoola Wood?