Laois County Council announce road closures for summer music festival
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Seven roads to close to facilitate summer music and arts festival in Laois
Laois County Council have announced the temporary closure of seven local roads to facilitate an upcoming music festival.
From Thursday 23 July at 9am to Monday 27 July at 3pm, roads in the Emo area will be closed to facilitate Forest Fest Music and Arts Festival.
From July 24 to 26, thousands of music lovers will descend upon Emo for Forest Fest 2026. Traffic on nearby roads will be restricted to local access, event buses and vehicles only during these dates.
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The R422 from R422/R419 Kennel Cross to R422/R445 New in Roundabout will be closed temporarily. There will be local access from Kennel Cross to Emo Village and from New Inn Roundabout to L7160 Emo Park road Junction (Coolaha Area).
The R42 will also be closed from R422/L31545 Morret road to the R422/L7160 Emo Park road with no local access, with access for emergency vehicles only.
The L7160 (access road to car parking, pick up drop off areas) will be closed from L7160/L7156 Old Pound to the L7160/R422 Junction. There will be local access allowed from Old Pound to Sheepstown Junction.
The Morret road (with access to artists and staff parking field) will be closed from L31542 to the R422 Junction, with local access via the R445 road.
The L31542 Morret road, which provides access to the pre-pitch, caravans and campervan parking, will be closed from the R422/L31542 to the R445/L31542. Local access only via Emo Village and then R422 junction.
The L3154 Killimy road will be closed from R419/L3154 to R422/L3154 with local access.
The L31551 road from Emo Village via the forest will be closed from R422/L31551 to L7160/L31551, with local access.
Lineup announcements so far for Forest Fest have revealed that headliners Echo & The Bunnymen, James and Madness will all perform across the weekend at Bee's Wing Farm in Emo.
The venue will also welcome The Boomtown Rats, The Charlatans, The Undertones, Deacon Blue, The Coronas, Paul Brady, Feeder and many more, with further announcements still to come.
Keep an eye on the Leinster Express / Laois Live for updates on Forest Fest 2026 as they come!