Borderline Festival in association with Dublin City Council – Ireland’s leading emerging music festival, reveals its first wave of Irish and International artists for 2027, alongside a further expansion of the festival, seeing The New Theatre, located in Temble Bar, Dublin City Centre added to the venue list. The New Theatre will host a variety of sets across the three days of the festival, alongside the Workman’s Club and the Project Arts Centre.
Tickets on sale Thursday, 12 November at 10AM via borderlinefestival.com.
FIRST WAVE OF ACTS | BORDERLINE FESTIVAL TRAIL
AUGUST · BATHING SUITS · BIG WETT · COWBOY HUNTERS · EXISTING CONDITIONS ·
EXIT STENCIL · GANS · GROTE GEELSTAART · HALF STAR · HOTWAX · JO FROM SCHOOL ·
LAST APOLLO · LEMONSUCKR · LTTL MORT · MARTA · MAQUINA. · MELTT · MOUTH ULCERS · OSCAR LINDSEY · PICTURE PARLOUR · PISS · PRODERICS · RUA RÍ · SILVERWINGKILLER · SPANISH HORSES · THE HEALING POWER OF HORSES · TOMMY BARLOW · TONY BONTANA · TRUTHPASTE · VICKY SOMETANI · VICTOR JONES · VLURE · WYATT · ZOE’S BROTHERS ·
+ MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Simon Merriman, Founder, Borderline Festival says: “When we started Borderline Festival four years ago, we did it with the aim of platforming emerging Irish and international artists in local venues, to receptive audiences. That hasn’t changed one bit. We’re now four years in, and the line up has gone from 16 acts to over 50. We’ve added a new venue again this year to our festival trail – The New Theatre, meaning we’ll have over 50 acts play across three days, four stages and three venues all within walking distance of each other. Catch you down the front for your new favourite band!”
“Dublin City Council is proud to support the return of Borderline Festival for its fourth year. The festival has become an important part of Dublin’s cultural calendar, showcasing emerging Irish and international talent while bringing audiences into the heart of the city. By creating opportunities for artists to develop their careers and reach new audiences, Borderline helps strengthen Dublin’s reputation as a leading centre for culture, creativity and artistic innovation.” – Tony Smithers, Head of Events at Dublin City Council
Praised by Time Out as one of the “Best Things to Do in the World” , Borderline Festival has hosted the likes of Lambrini Girls, Bleech 9:3, Wu Lyf, Westside Cowboy, Theatre, Cardinals, Fat Dog, Antony Szmierek, Freak Slug, Mary In The Junkyard, Man / Woman / Chainsaw, and many many more now-household-names.
ALTERNATIVE MUSIC IN ALTERNATIVE SPACES
Dublin’s beloved The Workman’s Club has been involved since the beginning, hosting Borderline Festival in the Cellar (R.I.P) and the main room in more recent years, with punters packing the venue out for bands they never heard of, but inevitably leave talking about for years to come. The Workman’s Club is an institution in Ireland’s music scene, and one of the only mid-sized venues in Dublin available to facilitate touring artists of a particular level.
“Borderline Festival has quickly established itself as one of the most important weekends in the live music calendar at The Workman’s Club. A showcase for the bands shaping the alternative scene, both at home and abroad, the festival offers a glimpse into the sounds & ideas of the future”. – Vinny Casey, The Workman’s Club
In 2026, the festival added a new venue: The Project Arts Centre, a space in the centre of Temple Bar that is well known for its work within the contemporary art and theatre space. Their team are acutely aware of the lack of spaces available in Dublin for live music, as venues continue to dwindle (The Workman’s Cellar, The Complex, Izakaya, Tivoli, Hanger, Tramline to name just a few). Project Arts Centre is deeply invested in the development of artists and leading on conversations around the development of art-forms and the cultural sector.
“It is essential to the music festival landscape in Ireland that arts spaces open their doors to them in a time when many of the landmark music venues are closing throughout the city. Borderline showcases an electric programme of the finest in forward-facing music from Ireland and abroad, and champions contemporary music culture. This is integral to us here at Project Arts Centre”. – Sophie Motley, Artistic Director at Project Arts Centre
The Project Arts Centre added two stages to the Borderline Festival Trail; “The Cube”, a black-box intimate space and their multi-purpose “Space Upstairs”. This enabled Borderline Festival to exponentially increase the number of acts on its lineup, and have them play simultaneously across the three spaces of the festival trail. Clashes occurred, yes, but the capacity to house all of these artists and therefore punters, means the festival can grow year on year, and showcase even more emerging music to the Irish market.
This year, this ethos continues, with the addition of the New Theatre, located right next to the Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. It offers a new intimate space, and a fourth stage, to the Borderline Festival Trail, which now means there can be over 50 acts on the lineup this year.
“We at The New Theatre are thrilled to be a new partner venue for Borderline Festival for 2027. As a venue, we are always looking for new and exciting ways to showcase art in the heart of Temple Bar and we are excited to be in great company with Project Arts Centre and The Workman’s Club for this year’s festival. We are looking forward to three days of incredible music!” – Anthony Fox, The New Theatre
With more exciting announcements to come, keep an eye on Borderline Festival. You might just discover your new favourite artist.
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TICKETS
One-day tickets
Friday 19 February: €21.00 plus booking fees | €23.65 including booking fee.
Saturday 20 February: €21.00 plus booking fees | €23.65 including booking fee.
Two-day ticket
Friday 19 and Saturday 20 February: €34.65 plus booking fees | €39.00 including booking fee.
Free Entry Thursday
Thursday 18 February: Free entry for Irish-focused night.
ACCESS:
The ticket ensures access to all rooms at The Workman’s Venue, Project Arts Centre, The New Theatre based on room capacity. There will be a one-in-one-out system once capacity is reached. The audience can roam between rooms at The Workman’s Club ‘Main Room’, Project Arts Centre ‘Space Upstairs’, Project Arts Centre ‘The Cube’ and The New Theatre for Borderline Festival.