Forest Fest organisers to apply for licence to host this year's music festival

Forest Fest Ltd will be applying to Laois County Council in the coming weeks for a licence to hold the music festival this July.

The festival will return to Emo this summer, although it will take place at a new site in the village. The festival will instead be held at Bee's Wing Farm instead of the usual Emo Park.

There is already a stacked line-up for this year's festival which will run from Friday, July 24 to Sunday, July 26.

In March, another 32 acts were added to the Forest Fest 2026 line-up, with even more to come. 

Over 70 acts have been confirmed so far, including headliners Echo and the Bunnymen, james, Madness, The Chameleons, and The Boomtown Rats.

READ NEXT: Two Laois community leaders nominated for national awards

Forest Fest Ltd will be applying to Laois County Council in the coming weeks for a licence to hold the festival in Emo.

The licence application will extend across the weekend. General camping and carparking will be provided on adjoining lands from Friday, July 24 at 10am to Monday, July 27 at 5pm. 

Campervan and caravan parking as well as glamping will be accessible from Thursday, July 23 at 3pm to Monday, July 27 at 3pm. 

The festival's organisers say they anticipate over 18,000 people to attend each day of the festival.

The application for the licence may be inspected at Laois County Council during office hours or online at www.laoiscoco.ie for a period of five weeks from the date it is submitted.

Any submissions or observations may be made to Laois County Council within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of the application by the council.

Day and Weekend tickets are still on sale at forestfest.ie. Camping and campervan tickets are also on sale, with a camping pass needed to stay on-site at Emo Village.

Forest Fest are running the same popular bus routes as last year with more information and booking links coming very soon.