“River Runs Round is about putting artists on the stages they need to be on, when they need to be on them, in front of audiences who they’re going to blow away.”

– Matthew Xavier Corrigan, Director of Programming

River Runs Round started on a flight to London. With the plane taxiing on the runway, Matthew Xavier Corrigan – who had previously worked at festivals including Quiet Lights and Another Love Story and would go on to work at 2023’s Sounds from a Safe Harbour – started describing a festival to co-founder Peter O’Sullivan and didn’t stop until they landed. A quick email to Coughlan’s and it was settled – they were running a festival. 

Developed in just two months from the notes taken on that fateful flight, 2023’s edition featured a diverse music lineup ranging from punk to folk, a film premiere, club nights, theatre, poetry, and even a panel on music journalism. One thing was clear – the festival would return, and this time they’d have a year to make it happen.

River Runs Round exists to celebrate Cork and its unique spaces, and to provide artists with a platform to create their best work. This year, in service of those aims, the festival is a bit bigger, with both new and familiar faces. The festival has taken on three Artists in Residence to develop new shows for this year’s edition as a long-term collaboration with the festival staff:

• On Friday September 13th, Immanuel Sola’s SPACES project will bring projection-mapped visuals and live DJing to St. Peter’s with his new exhibition The Satin Psychedelic.
• On Saturday September 14th, Rita Lynn will bring the world of her latest work Mystéé to life in St. Peter’s in a performance featuring sparse accompaniment, improvisation, free movement and breathy vocals.
• On Sunday, September 15th, Macdara Ó Faolain will perform a set in Coughlan’s, demonstrating his mastery of Irish traditional bouzouki in a set with multiple special guests including Victoria Adiiye and Ian Knepper, performing original works and a selection of Bach repertoire.

The festival features a stacked secondary programme including:

• the return of the festival’s highly immersive Circle format, bringing three songwriters together in the round to perform in turns; this year’s edition brings Lorkin O’Reilly, Julia Maria and Luke O’Neill into the centre.
• an intense, small-room headliner for Cork shoegazers Little Known, blending weighty, emotive soundscapes and head-banger beats, in the wake of their recent debut album As It Is.
• the debut of Arthouse Van Houten, a brand new live performance-focused electronic music project from Jack Corrigan and Drew Linehan of Hausu Records.
• a DJ set at Dali from Rory Sweeney, the multi-genre producer behind some of Ireland’s most exciting releases of the year including Curtisy’s What Was The Question, Memphis rap flip Carlos Danger presents: Irish Hash Mafia, and groundbreaking collaborations with Sloucho, EMBY, Julia Louise Knifefist and more.
• a club event At The Source presenting DJ sets from the festival team and friends at Rising Sons.
• a conversation between Colm Cahalane of new Irish music journalism outlet Fourth Best and veteran reporter Dylan Murphy (ex. District Magazine, founder of Mabfield) on the future of Irish music journalism against the pressures of streaming platforms and a changing social media landscape

The Estuary at Maureen’s is another new addition to this year’s lineup. With artists and timetable to be announced closer to the festival, these two days of free shows in Maureen’s provide the opportunity to hear some of Ireland’s most interesting emerging performers in one of the city’s most beloved intimate spaces.

The development of the Estuary programme and the major headliners at St Peter’s also reflects the festival’s growing partnerships with local businesses and venues; the festival has announced its community partners with beloved venues Maureen’s, St. Peter’s and Rising Sons, essential businesses like The Bigger Picture and Dacent Print, and new media platform Fourth Best.