Open Ear '25

Off the back of an unforgettable sun soaked 2024 Open Ear returns to the stunning environs of Sherkin Island this June Bank Holiday weekend - May 29th - June 1st. Expect a weekend of some of the most forward thinking experimental music from Ireland & beyond, alongside some of the most thrilling dance-floor disruptors, all of it interwoven within the uniquely spectacular backdrops of Sherkin Island in West Cork. In 2024 Open Ear set new standards for itself, traversing across beaches, churches & abbeys alongside our traditional home of Banger Cliff situated on the north shore of Sherkin. 2025 will again bring a diversity of sounds across the Island in what is the most expansive, varied and straight-up exciting programme yet…

As we see a new generation of artists explore traditional folk music through an experimental lens, meshing with modern genres to create some of the most exciting music of our times Open Ear is thrilled to be showcasing the trance-inducing smallpipes virtuoso Brìghde Chaimbeul, RÓIS’ meshing of sean-nos, electronics & jazz harmony, the polished chaos of Trá Pháidín’s collage of folk, jazz and art rock, Elaine Malone’s mélange of psychedelic folk & shoegaze, The Gloaming's Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and multi-instrumentalist Seamas Hyland. Irish techno ambassador Sunil Sharpe may be a name recognisable to most but the lesser known but no-less vital Anodyne and Americhord have put their names to some of the finest techno releases to ever come out of Ireland and 2025 will see them both bring their live sets to Banger Cliff. Coming from further afield to twist the OE dancefloor into further unrecognisable shapes is Autechre collaborator Rob Hall, the freewheeling, cult stylings of Amsterdam’s DJ Marcelle, Barcelona’s punk-infused EBM instigators Dame Area and DJ Firmeza, a member of Lisbon’s revered Príncepe Discos crew. Collaboration has become a vital element to the Open Ear programme and this year will be no different as we present new works from Minced Oath & Bea Brennan, The collision of Autumns' Derry Dub Wave and with Kahn's Bristolian dread bass, the domestic disorder of Natalia Beylis & Willie Stewart's Hedgling and a brand new project Zkellies, more of which will be revealed closer to the festival...